Operation: REBIRTH
by krossfire
Summary: Re Establishing Big Institution Requires Tremendous Help. After Numbuh 0 defeated his Father, his next task is to rebuild the Kids Next Door Organization from scratch. An origin story. Latest Chapter - Chapter 16: Op. MUM
1. Operation: NEW

_Preface:_ After nearly two years of inactivity, I'm back with a new story. This is something that's been playing around ever since Operation ZERO came out, and wondering how did Numbuh 0 reestablished the Kids Next Door. Well, here's my take on it. Happy reading!

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**Legal junk: I don't own Codename:Kids Next Door, but Cartoon Network does and Mr. Warburton created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Operation: **R.E.B.I.R.T.H** (**R**e **E**stablishing **B**ig **I**nstitution **R**equires **T**remendous **H**elp)

Operation: **N.E.W** (**N**ow **E**veryone, **W**elcome!)

_"We are Kids Next Door." – **Nigel Uno** (Numbuh 1 of Sector V) _

_Seventh Age_

Victory needs to be savored. The triumphant win against adult tyranny was a major breakthrough for Monty Uno, the leader of a kid-only organization that he called "The Kids Next Door." Who knew that the son of a tyrant that forced kids everywhere to do menial jobs and backbreaking labor had a heart of gold, standing up against his Father and began a revolution to free kids everywhere? Even though most of his friends knew he inherited nothing from his dad, it was still a shock to see him fight back, against his own father of all people.

The effect of liberation was felt in an instant. After Monty Uno blasted his Father with some weird doohickey that looked a lot like a Jack-In-a-Box, everything and anything around them started to transform. What used to be drab, large industrial complexes had morphed into suburban two storey houses, greenery at every sight, with colorful flowers to boot. The dark and moody atmosphere suddenly changed into a bright and sunny day. Children no longer wear drab and musty rags. Other adults began to look more cheerful and friendly, instead of menacing and frightening. Suffice to say, it was a perfect ending to years of oppression under his own Father, or Papi, as Monty and his brother Ben, would call him.

A day after the liberation, Monty Uno called up his friends and kids everywhere to gather at a huge tree stump in an empty lot. Strangely, this was the only place that didn't change much from the instantaneous transformation that occurred during Father's demise. The stump was still there, and the small tree that grew in the middle of the stump was also still there. This came to no shock to Monty, but to everyone else, it was sort of perplexing.

Everybody gathered around the tree stump, waiting for Monty to show up. The stump now acts as a stage for everyone to see. With the crowd becoming bigger and bigger, words began to spread amongst themselves, rumors floating about and people began to accept it, deny it, debunk it, or confirm it.

"There are a lot of kids out there." Monty said with a mild nervous tone, as he peered through the leaves from inside the tree.

"Don't tell me you're getting nervous, Numbuh 0." A female voice replied, letting a small giggle out, amused at his attitude.

"It's not like that, Numbuh 999." He replied back, smiling sheepishly, with his face all becoming red. "It's just my very first time speaking in front a lot of people, and I—"

"I know you can do it." Numbuh 999 cut him off, smiling softly at him.

"TEN-HUT!" a voice boomed, and everyone fell silent. All eyes peered to the middle of the stump. There, stood a kid with a weird fashion sense, as if he constructed armor out of everyday kitchen utensils like trays, pans and woks. They don't know whether to laugh or to feel sorry at him. Just then, a creak was heard in the tree, and out came Monty Uno, sliding the trunk to the bottom. Everybody greeted their liberator with thunderous applause. Monty was touched, and his eyes began to brim with tears. But to cry is a sign of weakness, and he tried to hold it up. Like a military general, he marched to the edge of the stump, and gazed at the sea of children, as they wait for him to begin to do something.

"You're probably wondering why I am dressed in this outfit." He said, and a few chuckles were heard from the crowd. His outfit, although was nowhere as fancy as the kid with utensils with armor earlier, was just as outrageous itself. "This, my friends, is a 2x4 technology armor."

Everyone looked one another, perplexed and shrugged. One nervously raised his hand.

"Yes?" Monty asked.

"So basically you called us up just to show you're wearing junk all over your body?" Some nervous laughter was heard.

Monty smiled softly and let a breath out, amused by that rather unflattering comment, "Friends and fellow kids everywhere. I would like to thank you all for coming here in such a short notice." Monty began his opening speech, which was anticipated by the crowd. Just then, a few other kids, roughly about twenty of them, including Numbuh 999 descended from the tree and formed behind Monty. They all wearing the same silly 'armor' that Monty and that other kid were wearing.

"Our victory yesterday—" suddenly, it was greeted a thunderous applause, again from the crowd. Monty smiled and paused for while until the applause died down, "is a wakeup call to all of us kids that we can't rely on someone else to take care of us anymore. No, no, just forget what I said. There was no victory, it was a failure. It was a failure because it was only now that we realized we are helpless. We were too late. We were too dependent on the grownups to tell us to do. And because of that, we were enslaved by the very people that we thought we could depend on – the Adults. I do not want history to repeat again, and I don't want my Father, or some other adult, to suppress us all! I'm not saying that we sever all ties with the adults, but we need to be cautious. It's high time for us kids to look after our own and fight back whoever threatens us."

All those words took a moment for the crowd to take it all in. Yet, despite of it the crowd did not know how to respond to this seemingly mad spiel. Did he say what they thought he says?

"Let me get this straight." A portly little kid said back, bit exasperated at this point. "Are you proposing that us kids need to protect ourselves for now on from the evil adults? It's a noble idea, sure. But it's impossible for us to do it."

"Why is that impossible, Boss?" Monty asked back.

"W-Well…" he stammered, looking around his surroundings, "J-Just look at us! We have nothing to fight back! We lack the power, the resources and the energy to do it! Even the good adults won't let us get a hold of their stuff! I commend the effort, but the idea of yours is doomed to failure…" Most of the crowd then agreed with him, hanging their heads in defeat. But unsurprisingly, Monty did not share the pessimism.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Boss, and I thought you're one of those type that don't quit easily." Monty shock his head in disappointment, yet amused and still in high spirits. He moved his right hand to his back, and out came a book in his hands. Everyone wondered what that book was supposed to mean.

"Fellow kids everywhere, what I have here is a book called the 'Book of KND'. The KND I refer to stands for the 'Kids Next Door'. This book tells us how we can stand up to the evil adults. It teaches us to do nifty things like this armor I'm wearing," he said, slowing moving his other hand downwards in front of his chest, "This cool gun, and all other neat stuff that are just impossible for me to say it in a single sitting. It tells us how to grow our own bases—"

"Excuse me, pardon me." A little girl interrupted him, "What do you mean, by 'grow'?"

"You hear me correctly." Monty replied back, brim with enthusiasm, "You see this giant stump I'm standing right now? This used to be a Treehouse. You see, according to this book, every Kids Next Door operative gets to stay with other operatives in a base. This base is grown and becomes a Treehouses, and according to this book, those Treehouses are capable to grow to ginormous proportions!" he threw his hands up, getting excited. "Imagine that sitting in your neighborhood; with you on top of it, we can look out for trouble from miles away!"

"I don't know, man…" one boy replied back, stroking his chin. "It doesn't sound exciting enough. I don't know about the rest of you, but I just can't see the benefit of us just going to arms and beat up every evil adult we see. I mean, we have cops to do it for us, don't you think?" The crowd tended to agree with him. Monty however, had more things to reveal to them.

"All right, kid." He replied back. "I want to ask you something. What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"Is that question even relevant to this?" the kid ask back.

"Very relevant." Monty replied.

He stared at him a bit, still not getting his reason. He then shrugged, then said, "Dunno, a pilot, I guess."

"And you'll have to wait until you've grown older, won't you?"

"I guess so. But I have to go to pilot school and all that crap, learn all kind of things like physics and stuff."

"In the Kids Next Door, adult rules don't apply, and you get to pilot your very own aircraft." Monty replied back, smiling.

The kid scoffed back, not believing it, "Pfft, yeah right."

"I'm serious everyone. By joining the Kids Next Door you can be everything that you want to be, and I'm not talking nonsense here. See this weapon?" Monty held a gun and showed it to the crowd. Small laughter was heard since what they saw was just a couple of crude planks, an empty ketchup bottle and some few batteries wired, bounded and duct taped together. They all thought that Monty had lost his mind, or had a highly vivid imagination. Monty smiled as he aimed at a nearby mailbox. With a single shot, the gun disintegrated the mailbox into ash leaving nothing but a trail of smoke. He then spun the gun with his fingers and put it back inside its holster, leaving everyone in shock.

"How did you do that?!" one kid asked in awe, yet thoroughly puzzled at the demonstration just now.

"I didn't do it." Monty replied back. "He did it." He pointed at a kid at the very far end of his right. "Meet Numbuh 0110."

"'Sup?" he greeted to the crowd. "Call me Chester, I'm the Weapons Engineer and Specialist of the group. As you can see by that demonstration, I have successfully engineered a weapon capable of causing massive damage using only byproducts and waste of everyday items. It's quite simple really. Adult laws complicate matters, but when in a hands of a child, everything becomes all too easy. Those Bernoulli's Principle, Doppler's Effect, Laws of Thremodynamics the adults have been touting all these years are all non applicable in our domain. It's funny really, considering the adult created these outrageous and overly complicated laws and equations for the simplest solutions… what a load of crock."

There was a deafening silence, as everyone wondered and very confused what he meant by that gibberish. Then, after a long pause what seemed to be an eternity, one girl raised her hand slowly and asked in an unsure voice, "So… you mean I can be a doctor?"

Monty was quick to reply, pointing at her, "Yes, exactly! You can be whoever you wish to be! Now you guys are getting it! In the Kids Next Door, you don't have to be a grownup to become a doctor, a soldier or a scientist! We can do it now! And by pulling our resources together, who knows what kind of stuff we can achieve or what fascinating new technology we are going to invent!"

"You mean…" another kid said, with a smile on his face, "I can be a scientist now?"

"Or a detective, like in those private eye movies?"

"An archeologist? Can I be an archeologist?"

"I want to be an engineer!" One kid shouted at the top of his lungs.

"NERD!" another one yelled back, and it was followed by laughter. With that, all kids in the crowd began to shout out their dreams, ambitions and the desire to join the newly founded organization to Monty. What's even better, they can achieve it now, just by signing up for the Kids Next Door. With this much enthusiasm from the crowd, Monty successfully persuaded them to join the battle against adult tyranny.

"I think your little pep talk is working wondrously, Numbuh 0." Numbuh 999 said as he put her palm on his shoulder, smiling at him.

"Our work here is still not done." Monty replied, smiling back. "Coaxing them with words is easy, but to pull it off… requires tremendous help."

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This is just a small sample for things to come. Hey, if you liked it, or hated it, just leave a review.


	2. Operation: FIRST

_Author's Note: _Wow, thank you so much for the reviews and support guys! I promise I'll try to make it great. I think this chapter is a bit short and doesn't have much going on, but hopefully it will explain the stuff that I'm trying portray.

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Operation: **F.I.R.S.T** (**F**irst **I**nitial **R**ecruits **S**urprises **T**eam)

_"It's exhilarating to watch all these eager new troops proving their worth. And it's amusing to see the looks on their face when they are told that they have failed." – Numbuh 19th Century (Sixth Age)_

It was a positive sign for Monty Uno and the rest of the Kids Next Door operatives that nearly 3/4s of the crowd wanted to sign up for the organization. Then again, his math was horrible. Nevertheless, he trusted his judgment and convinced that his estimation was indeed correct, more or less. He was proud to see so many kids so willingly want to join an organization that he founded just a few weeks ago. Maybe there is hope in the world after all; maybe we all want to change the world for kids to live peacefully. As those kids lined up in front of Monty's team to register their names to his teammates, he couldn't help but to be amazed and amused at the diverse cast of characters.

Take an example of this one guy in one of the queues: he had a toilet plunger for a hat and he seemed to be quite a nuisance to his neighbors around him, spouting inane and useless trivia about personal hygiene and preaching cleanliness of one's toilet. One kid was an interesting fellow; kept talking about his love for jazz while at the same time, wanting to join the circus as a clown should his application as a doctor for the KND is declined. Monty eyed a girl, just as portly as he was, asking to be a pilot for the KND. She also claimed that she was handy with electronics, and could whip up a gadget with ease. She demonstrated her skills by taking a glass of water, a cork, magnet and a pen and turned it into a working compass. There this one person whom he had this particular dislike of, as he watched him trading jokes and conversation with Numbuh 999 with envy. He tried to shrug it off, as it was too stupid and unprofessional of him to behave like that. And that was where he noticed someone, whom he knew very well.

"Ben?"

It was Monty's brother, Benedict Uno. Upon hearing his name, he was a bit shocked, "Hey…" he replied nervously, waving his hand weakly at his brother. "I… uh… just want to say… congratulations for standing up to Papi…"

Only a disappointed frown from Monty greeted him back.

"I know… I let you down Monty. I chickened out. I was scared 'cause I didn't want to face Father's wrath. He's just too frightening…" he said in a nervous, uneven tone. "B-but, last night… you've proven to me… that you… can do it. You can fight back. _We_ can fight back. I don't care if I'm scared or not anymore, Monty. As long as I have you on my side, I'll do anything to—" his words were cut short, as Monty hugged him tightly.

"Welcome to the Kids Next Door, brother."

Ben couldn't say anything back, but deep inside, he was deeply moved by his brother's affection. Slowly, he took both of his hands and embraced the big lug back. Both brothers were smiling right now.

"No… no! Not the Bear Hug, Monty!"

"Ha ha, Gotcha!"

With recruits numbered in nearly hundreds, composes of a ragtag team of hopeful operatives, scientists, soldiers, doctors, pilots, engineers, drivers and other well known professions, it was now the time to take these recruits to training. The next hurdle was simple enough, to provide a training ground for the kids to begin their training.

Monty consulted the book of KND once again. One page instructed how a treehouse supposed to be grown. The instruction, although was simple enough for a kindergartener to understand it, he was a bit overwhelmed by some of its instructions. Therefore, he called some of the brightest minds of the KND asked them how to grow treehouse. After some lengthy discussion about the problem, they then unanimously adopt the solution and they quickly implemented it. Strange considering that the solution comprises of normal everyday items and some seeds they found on the ground.

They molded it together and planted it in the ground. After the last patch of dirt was swiped in, they all peered down looking, and anticipating for something to happen. 30 seconds passed, and it still did not show any sign of activity, which was weird since according to the book of KND the treehouse should grow immediately after plantation. "Hey, is it working? What's going on over there?" one of the kids at back shouted, getting impatient, and so was the rest. Numbuh 999 was getting restless, and shook her head in disbelief. She took off from the crowd and head over to a nearby fountain. She cupped her hands together to fill it with water and raced back to water the seed. Still with all that effort, nothing happened.

"Hey, what's going on Monty? Are you fooling with us? What are you trying to pull?" One operative accused, starting to think this whole secret kid only organization was a total bunk. Numbuh 0 glared back, but dare not to answer as he too began to lose patience with the seed. But then, like a miracle, the ground began to shake, and it gradually became worse. Many panicked and fled away. With stupefying speed, the seed sprouted roots, bark, branches and twigs in every direction. Leaves poofed in instant and manmade creations like hangar, satellite dish, and a ship of all things poked out of the tree.

Everyone was left speechless. Monty was right. The Book of KND was right. The treehouse gave them a glimmer of hope and pride. The atmosphere of disbelief then suddenly changed into cheers of joy and the first word that was spoken was "COOL!" Everybody was in awe. The ones who fled came back. The group of kids that helped Monty patted their backs and congratulates each other for solving the problem. By now, any doubt about the credibility of the Kids Next Door held by the operatives vanished. Monty looked at it with pride. Numbuh 999 and Ben, now known as Numbuh 01, were alongside him.

"What are you gonna call it, Monty?" Ben asked.

"Well, the first thing I heard from the kids back there was 'cool', so… I guess I'm gonna call it 'The Treehouse of Coolness." His brother replied back with a sense of pride.

But Numbuh 999 could only laugh at his choice of name, "Can't you be more creative than that?"

The treehouse, when compared to the modern version that you see in the show, was only half the size of its counterparts. But to the kids at that era, it was the hugest tree that they ever laid their eyes on. Every one of them was in awe at this wondrous sight they are beholding. But, there was one problem: how to get up on the tree?

Again, Monty consulted with the book of KND. The book mentioned that all treehouses can be accessible by three means: either by flying into it, take the elevator up, or go through a booby trapped obstacle course designed for intruders who are ignorant of the treehouse's security measures. The obvious choice was to use the elevator, as the obstacle course was totally out of the question and they didn't have an airplane yet. Monty called half of the original twenty operatives to go with him and ordered the others to follow them afterwards. Among them were Numbuh 999 and Numbuh 0110.

The elevator ride was a long one for them, cramped in the confined space. The door opened, and a huge room greeted them. Sunlight came shining from the outside, and they could tell some of the things and gadgets in the room. Radar, computer, monitors and all, but made from everyday objects that seemed to be salvaged from junkyards. Numbuh 0110 was thoroughly excited with the newly discovered gadgets, being the sole scientist in the group. Everyone followed suit and scattered around the room to feel, touch, handle and operate the things inside of the room.

As Monty had his eyes wonder through, one particular button stood out among the rest. On it, the words 'Deactivate' was written on it, with red color in the background. Curious and without thinking of the consequences, Monty pushed the button. The button lit up a green light and the word 'Activate' replaced the previous word. Then an electrical noise was heard humming from every machinery and electronic gadgets inside of the room and lights began to flicker in and out. Everyone paused at what were they doing and glared at Monty. He could only shrug his shoulders, smiling sheepishly at his friends. Suddenly, a static noise was heard, and weird computerish voice began to emit out.

"RRR-R-R-Reac-t-t-t-or on-l-l-l-l-ine, s-s-s-ensors o-o-o-online, w-weapons online. All systems operational."

All of the operatives were stunned. The atmosphere suddenly became tense. They quickly went to arms and held their 2x4 guns and point them in random directions, expecting hostilities. "Show yourself!" Monty shouted.

But the only thing heard back was a sweet, motherly female voice of the computer, "Salutations, you must be the new Kids Next Door Operatives. This is an undesignated sector. I am this treehouse's operating system. My duty is to serve and remind the operatives of this treehouse to ensure work and missions can be executed flawlessly. I apologize I can't establish contact to the headquarters at the moment since my communication systems cannot find a signal to reestablish the link. Be warned that this treehouse is running on an auxiliary power supply and will run out in 96 hours time. Please approach the computer terminal in front of you and input your designated Numbuhs in the database. Your personal information will be stored inside the local database cluster until connection to the headquarters is restored."

"Power supply?" Numbuh 999 asked.

"The main power generator is operational but idle. It requires a huge amount of domesticated rodents or any similarly sized animals in order to operate it."

They were a bit confused and stunned. It was hard to believe even to them that kids invented computers way before the adults did, with a very smart artificial intelligence as well. "What should we call you?" Monty asked as he looked at the ceiling, lowering his weapon down. His actions were followed by his teammates.

"You can address me as Computuh." The artificial intelligence answered back. "Please, approach the computer terminal in front of you and input your designated Numbuhs in the local treehouse database." It reiterated back. After much thought, Numbuh 0 cautiously walked over to the computer terminal and state his Numbuh.

"Numbuh 0. Leader of the Kids Next Door." He said, as everyone watched him from behind.

"Voice sample inserted into local treehouse database. Please input DNA sample into the tray below." The statement left Numbuh 0 puzzled.

"I'm… I'm sorry?"

"Your booger, Numbuh 0. Please insert your DNA sample into the tray below." Again, the computer reiterated.

Being a kid with dignity, he questioned the act as he looked at his friends with a feeling of doubt. He really didn't want to do it, especially in front of a girl, and ESPECIALLY in front of Numbuh 999. While the rest of the boys thought this was a good opportunity to gross a girl out, Numbuh 0 thought otherwise. But then, Numbuh 999 smiled nervously back, as if she was amused and would approve of the act. Numbuh 0 turned to the computer again, and gazed at it.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and swallowed his pride. He jammed a finger up his nose, followed by a collective surprise and excitable "EWW!!" from his teammates. A booger was extracted and he quickly put it into the tray. What an honorable tradition that they have kept. Glad the most embarrassing five seconds of his life was over.

"DNA scanned…" The computer said, "Confirmed. Numbuh 0. Supreme Leader of the Kids Next Door. Be advised that you need to input your designated position with the Soopah Big Computermabob at the Kids Next Door Headquarters."

"SUPREME Leader?!" Numbuh 01 said with a chuckle. "Okay… so let me try next." Ben said, and walked towards the terminal to put his name in. After he put his name in, the rest followed suit.

"Numbuh 999, Communications and Decryption Encryption Specialist."

"Numbuh 0110, Weapons Engineer and Specialist."

"Numbuh…"

As the tenth and final operative tried to register his name in, the computer quickly replied, "ERROR: The Kids Next Door protocol states that only nine operatives are allowed to be stationed at a treehouse at a time. Therefore, this one operative must be assigned at another designated Sector."

Monty gazed at the operative with pity. "Sorry, man."

But the operative smiled back weakly at him, "It's okay, Numbuh 0. I can hangout with the other operatives at some other treehouse… wherever that is…"

Which reminded Monty to ask the computer about these concepts about sectors and treehouses, "Computuh, may I ask you something?"

"Yes. Please elaborate your query in cohesive and coherent manner."

"You said that there are sectors and treehouses, you mean there are more of them?"

"Precisely. Kids Next Door operatives are stationed in treehouses in designated sectors given by the Soopah Big Computermabob at the Kids Next Door headquarters. Unfortunately, since I couldn't find the signal to locate the headquarters, your names will not be uploaded to the Soopah Big Computermabob to verify your sectors and your positions in the Kids Next Door."

"You say that this… Computeramabob thingy is located in the Kids Next Door headquarters. Do you have any idea where it might be?" Numbuh 0 asked.

"Negative. Since I couldn't locate the signal, I have no logical respond to your answer. Be advised that this information is outdated. A quick search in my local database cluster reveals that the headquarters is either on the moon—"

"THE MOON?!" the operatives shouted in chorus and in disbelief.

"Or at the Arctic Circle."

Monty was seriously considering venturing further and delving into this mystery. If what the Computuh said was true, the Kids Next Door was bigger than he previously thought. He made his decision: he turned around to his roommates and said, "Everyone, we're going to the Arctic!"

It surprised the team.

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Well, that's that. In the next installment, the search for the elusive Arctic Base will begin. Will they find it? Just wait and see. :) Reviews are appreciated!


	3. Operation: SEARCH

_Author's Note:_ Ah, this is the longest chapter so far, but if you think this long, wait until I upload the later chapters. Anyone else felt the previous chapter was a bit of a drag? Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading this!

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**Legal junk: I don't own Codename:Kids Next Door, but Cartoon Network does and Mr. Warburton created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Operation: SEARCH (**S**earching **E**lusive Arctic **R**efuge **C**onveys **H**ope)

"_The adults are always a hundred years behind us. While they still hold on to their archaic believes that we are living in a flat world, we children have long know that the world is round. As they sail mindlessly on their derelict ships in a quest for glory and gold, we have circumnavigated the globe many times in our flying machines. While they subjugated the natives, we greet the natives with great respect and invite them to join us." – __**Bosco de Gama**__ (Numbuh 1095 of Sector P)_

_Fifth Age_

It was now a couple of days later and Monty Uno was ready to venture to the Arctic Circle in search for the elusive Kids Next Door Arctic Base Treehouse, which allegedly being the headquarters of the organization he just re-founded. Though a base on the moon was mentioned, but Monty felt it was better go to a place closer to home first, and less suicidal. It was morning at the time, and Monty was about ready to leave house. But first he had to wake his brother up first. So he violently opened the door to his brother's room and shouted at the top of his lungs, "BEN!!"

Benedict Uno jolted and jumped from his bed. Still in daze, he gazed at his brother with his sleepy eyes, "Wake up, Ben!" He said eagerly, "We're going to the Arctic! Come on! We're not going to miss the surprise that Numbuh 20 is giving to us!" and Monty bolted the door. Ben, still in a state of sleepiness, plops his head back to his pillow.

After Ben got dressed, he ran down the stairs only to see his brother waiting for him impatiently at the front door. "Sorry for being late, Monty, I'm—"

"No time, let's go!" Monty cut him off. And as soon as he reached for the door knob, a stern figure walked into the hallway and saw both brothers at the door.

"Hold it!" the figure shouted.

Both Monty and Ben turned back, gazing at the figure. Yes, it was indeed Father, but in a less intimidating form. His black silhouette suit was gone and was replaced with a brown business suit, a red black striped tie, and wearing a brown fedora. "Where are you boys heading to?" he asked in an accusing tone, while holding his pipe. Even in his state of decommissioning he was still intimidating to the boys. Monty knew that Father had absolutely zero knowledge of everything that had happened a few days ago, but the feeling of dread and the sense of authority was still there lingering in his presence.

"Ben and I are… uhh," Monty replied cautiously, trying to come up with a good excuse to explain to his Father, "…just heading out to the playground to play with some friends." He said, as Father had his narrowed eyes locked on the two boys. "Is that okay with you, Papi?" and by 'playground,' he meant the Treehouse.

Father held his head up in contemplation, "Yeah, why not? Make sure to come back home soon." He said, puffing out a smoke, and walked into the living room.

Both Monty and Ben let a huge sigh of relief. Wasting no time, they quickly left the house. "Boy, that was too close!" Ben said to his brother as they ran to the treehouse.

"Just be glad he didn't shoot fireballs at us like the last time!" Monty replied back as they quickened their pace.

A new view greeted them at the treehouse. There were a crowd of kids gawking around what looks like to be an aircraft of some sort. They also heard loud banging and hammering with the occasional yells to speed up and to hand over tools. The aircraft looked nothing like a traditionally designed aircraft. The body was taken from a beat-up old van and they turned it upside down and extended it by using sheets of aluminum. The wings were constructed out from very long dining tables while the tail was built from leftover building materials from a construction site. The turbines were made from ceiling fans, and as for the engines, they managed to find some lawnmower engines laying around in a junkyard.

The first impression did not do it for Monty. Even he doubted that this piece of junk so shoddily made would lift off the ground. "We're going to fly on… that?" he pointed to it, asking in a disbelief tone.

"Believe me, it's going to work, Numbuh 0!" a girl said, shouting from on top of the vehicle. "You have my word on it! My team and I put a lot of effort in making this baby work!"

"Yeah… but…" Monty said, "Will it fly, Numbuh 20? And not crash and burn, which will _kill us all_?"

"You're doubting me, aren't you?" Numbuh 20 asked back, but her tone seemed to be rather pleasant, rather playfully in fact, "I've been reading that section on 2x4 technology on that book of yours many times and I even improvise some of the parts to make it better! Believe me when I'm telling you the SCRAMPER is going to work!"

(Kids Next Door – **S.C.R.A.M.P.E.R**: **S**ooper **C**ool **R**ocket **A**ircraft **M**achine **P**rovides **E**xcellent **R**econnaissance)

"For our sake, let's hope your words are true, Betty…" Monty said back unsurely, tough he was still a bit restless even though Numbuh 20 was showing overwhelming confidence judging from the looks of her face. Probably that _was_ the reason why Monty was jittery.

"Still not convinced? You want a demo to convince your lack of confidence or something?" she replied back, with a sly smirk on her face.

Betty asked the three engineers that she worked with in making the SCRAMPER to get inside the aircraft. They argued back they were not finished with their work but Numbuh 20 insisted the aircraft was airworthy. After all, she was the mastermind behind it and knew every bolt and screw holding the SCRAMPER intact. She asked the flight engineers to take their positions. Betty was sitting on a decrepit armchair at the front of the vehicle while the others were sitting on the far left, right and behind of her, each operating on their own terminal.

Numbuh 20 ignited the engine by pushing a button in a shape of a bottle cap. An electrical hum was heard and the blades on the turbines began to spin in a fast, but even rate. "Systems check." Numbuh 20 said. "Engines ready."

"Navigational controls are ok." an engineer said.

"Communications line checked and good to go." Another one declared.

"Radar and weapons are operational." The last one said.

"Strap yourselves in boys." Betty said back, smirking. "And hang on to your underwear."

Outside the vehicle, everybody was looking at the shaking aircraft anxiously and in great anticipation. Cold sweat ran out from Numbuh 0 as he watched the vehicle restlessly. The nervous and tense atmosphere was too shared by the others, hoping that this piece of junk that Numbuh 20 called an aircraft would do as the name suggested. The SCRAMPER inches off the ground slowly and blew the dust and dirt away. The engines continue to emit noises and then, fire streams came out from the end of the engine. By now the SCRAMPER was getting higher and higher off the ground, and all who witnessed and participated begin to carve a smile.

"It's working! IT'S WORKING!!" Betty screamed with joy. The SCRAMPER was now hovering high in the air, to the joy of the crowd below. Then, Betty pulled the steering wheel back and the SCRAMPER begin to go forward. She was getting excited, and punched the gas pedal to make it faster. It breezed through the sky gracefully. At the same time the kids on the ground were getting nuts. The same could be said back inside the SCRAMPER, as the engineers at Betty's side were screaming and asking her to do complicated maneuvers. Betty entertained the request by doing a loop-de-loop, much to the delight of the crowd below and the crew inside. It also proved to herself that her aircraft was very agile and maneuverable.

After roughly five minutes of flying around Betty felt the demonstration was more than enough to convince the Soopreme Leader of the SCRAMPER's capabilities. As she landed the aircraft down in a middle of a field, kids everywhere rushed to the aircraft to greet the pilot. As the door opened the crowd greeted her with a thunderous applause and proceeded to lift her and her crewmates up. As the crowd held her in the air, Numbuh 0 took the opportunity to wave at her and shouted, "Now I know I really can count on you Numbuh 20!"

"I told ya it works!" Numbuh 20 said back, smiling at the beaming Numbuh 0, showing him a thumbs up.

--

LOCATION: SOMEWHERE IN CANADIAN ARCTIC REGIONS TIME: 1255 HRS

"Still no sign of the alleged Arctic Treehouse, Numbuh 0." Numbuh 999 said in a tired tone as she monitored the radar. It showed nothing but a revolving green line circling around and producing faint beeping noise from time to time.

"Fuel is enough for another hour and a half, Numbuh 0." said Numbuh 20. "And may I remind you that it took about us about 45 minutes to reach here from the playground."

"You know, the weather ain't gonna stay any good, since according to the weather scanner doohickey here there's a storm a-brewin', with the strong winds and the blizzard and flarghwarghgarrgh… aww, you know what I'm talking about." Said Numbuh 2084, whom the newest addition to the team, specializing in Observation and also the Medical Officer of the group.

"Stay frosty, team." Numbuh 0 said back to his concerned team of eight people, himself included. At this moment he was trying to stay optimistic so the team wouldn't go disarray and panic. The Arctic Base Treehouse must be found today. "We'll find it. I'm sure of it. I mean, we've been circling around the Arctic Region for hours now surely there must be a lead we've been overlooking."

"Problem is; we haven't found any leads at all." Numbuh 999 replied back in exasperation, looking at him. "And no clues whatsoever for us to find the Arctic Treehouse. All I see is snow, snow and more snow. And the occasional polar bears." She said, venting out her frustration. "I'm sorry to say this Numbuh 0, but this is a fool's errand. It's all a wild goose chase. The Computuh must've short circuited her processor or something to come up with a dumb lie, and we're gullible enough to believe her!" She threw her hands up, shaking them in complete and total aggravation.

This new attitude of hers was completely out of character. What used to be calm and cheery Numbuh 999 was now an irritated person fuming her frustration at everyone inside the SCRAMPER's cockpit. It surprised everyone, and it even made them disbelief of Numbuh 999. A disbelief gaze and a deafening silence was the only thing given to her by her crewmates after she had done her venting. She looked at them back, feeling guilty for scaring them a little bit. "I'm sorry, guys…" she said with her head lowered down and in a weak tone. "It's just so—"

Suddenly, loud beeping noises came blaring from the radar, and Numbuh 999 leapt into action and monitored the radar. "Omigosh, I can't believe it! The radar is finally picking something up!" she said loudly in disbelief, and Monty Uno began to carve a soft smile on his face. "Just at our south-east, some ten kilometers away!"

"Understood!" Numbuh 0 nodded with eagerness. "Numbuh 999, keep us updated with the location!"

She saluted, and nodded.

"Numbuh 20, I want this ship turn around and head to wherever Numbuh 999 is taking us!"

"Roger that, boss!" Betty said back, punching the gas.

"Lincoln, keep monitoring the weather! I don't—"

"Whoa, a bit of red flag here, man!" Numbuh 2084 replied with unease. "We're actually heading into a blizzard!"

The report stunned Numbuh 0, and he had to make a decision quick. "Numbuh 20, can this ship take a powerful beating if we go through that blizzard?" he asked.

"Never had the opportunity to test it in harsh weather conditions, but every inch of my body say it's going to be a-okay!" Betty replied back, as she pushed random buttons on the console. But Numbuh 0 was still indecisive. He had to think quick or else he'd put his crewmembers in jeopardy. "You said you can count on me, Numbuh 0!" Betty said again, as to ask him to make a decision quick.

Monty was extremely unsure, but he followed his instincts and trust Numbuh 20's words. "For our sake, let's hope your words are true, Betty!"

"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" a protest was heard from Numbuh 0110, "Do you expect a rickety ship like this can go through a dangerous blizzard like that?!"

"Chester, I thought you _absolutely_ trust our 2x4 technology!" Numbuh 0 reminded him back.

"Well, not under a condition like this!" he replied back tensely. "We're gonna get ripped into shreds for sure!"

"It's my ship, Numbuh 0110!" Numbuh 20 yelled at him, "I know what it is or is not capable of! So shut up, sit down, and let me handle this!" she shouted through her clenched teeth. Her palms began to sweat and whether she noticed it or not, she was biting her lips, herself unsure of her own words.

Outside the SCRAMPER, things were looking pretty intense. The wind was so strong that the aircraft began to rattle. It was mild at first, and then it started to quake. The aircraft careened through the blizzard, hitting all the snow and debris in front of them. A red alarm rang, indicating that damages were made physically onto the SCRAMPER. Everyone began to panic. "N-N-N-N-NNumbuh 20, a-a-are you sure about t-t-t-this?!"

"Quiet!" she shouted back, "I'm trying t-t-to concentrate!" she turned to Numbuh 999 and asked, "Numbuh 999, h-how much further?!"

She was a bit stunned at first, but immediately she snapped back and monitored the radar. "Three kilometers e-e-e-enclosing! I s-s-s-suggest you make preparations for landing now, Numbuh 20!"

"Understood!" she said back, and pushed the steering wheel up front, and the SCRAMPER plunged straight down, nearly hitting the ground.

"Are you nuts?!" Chester screamed at her, "That was a suicidal move, Numbuh 20!"

She ignored Chester's obvious panicky scream, and kept concentrating on the flight. "Numbuh 999, status!"

"One kilometer!"

"I'm gonna land this baby down!" Betty replied, "Everyone, strap on your seat belt, it's gonna be a bumpy landing!" With that warning, everyone sat up straight and fasten their seatbelt as tight as they could. Prayers were heard, and everyone was hoping for the best. Betty pushed the landing gear button, and out came a bunch of skis to land on such snowy ground. But as soon as the landing gear touches the ground, it broke into pieces, forcing the aircraft to land on its belly. A thunderous thump was heard, but the aircraft slid forward at such a high speed. Everyone in the SCRAMPER started to scream. Betty tried not to lose control of the ship as she turned the steering wheel left and right like crazy. After the intense life and death situation, the SCRAMPER slowed down to a gentler speed and finally stopped.

Betty let out a big deep breath and slouched down in her seat. She wiped the sweat of her forehead as a sign of relief, and said to her crewmates, "Didn't I tell ya I knew what I was doing?" she unbuckled her seatbelt and turned around. What she saw was not surprising. Everyone was so relief that they came out of this alive. They were shaken up, but relieved nonetheless.

"We should do that again sometime." Numbuh 2084 said, chuckling nervously, "With the crash and landing warghflasrggrahh… aww, you know what I'm talking about."

After he took a calm breather, Numbuh 0 turned to Numbuh 999 and asked, "Status report, Numbuh 999."

"Ship seems to take a lot of damage, but nothing major. It still can fly." She replied back, reading the damage analysis off the monitor. "And we have plenty of fuel to return back home. As for our location… something doesn't add up."

"What do you mean?" Numbuh 0 asked back.

"The radar says we're directly on the spot where the Arctic Treehouse supposed to be… but the only thing I see outside the window is just that lone pine tree…" she said in a puzzled tone while pointing to the front windshield. And indeed it was; it was just a small lone pine tree in a middle of an icy wasteland in a terrible endless blizzard.

"This… this can't be…" Numbuh 0 said in disbelief as he walked towards the windshield. "This _can't_ be the Treehouse we're looking for…" he said in a weakened voice, as he placed his palm onto the windshield and slid it down. All that hard work was for nothing. It wasted their precious time. And with all that effort, they didn't find anything in this horrible weather. Anger began to take place. Numbuh 0 narrowed his eyes and his fists were clenching tightly. He then let out a scream of anguish and slammed the console in front of him with his fists. "We risked our lives, spent precious time and used a lot of resources only to find NOTHING?!" he vented out angrily to himself. His crewmates could only look at him in silence. They too were disappointed with the result.

Numbuh 0 closed his eyes, and as he opened it back, a tear began to roll down on his cheek. "I thought we were so close to find it…"

Numbuh 999 felt really bad for him, and thought she must do something to calm him up. And just as she put her foot on the floor, a loud cracking noise was heard. Everybody was alerted and stopped everything at what they were doing. "Did you hear that?" Chester said, visibly shaken.

"Shh." Numbuh 2084 shushed him up, waving his hand to him as to say no. Then cracking noise resumed once more, only it seemed to sound more violent. Suddenly, the SCRAMPER jolted down violently.

"We landed on thin ice!" Numbuh 0 shouted, "Numbuh 20, full throttle! GET US OUT OF HERE!"

"TOO LATE!" and with that, the ground beneath them began to break apart, sending them to dark void below, accompanied by their screams and the cold howl of the wind…

* * *

Finally I got to add a cliffhanger ending in this story. Will they survive? Feel free to speculate. Reviews and criticisms are always welcomed.


	4. Operation: BASE

Author's Note: Kind of a long one, but that's the way I like it. Basically, this chapter is a setup for a bigger story about the Arctic Base and why it has been forgotten for so long. Anyway, here it is, and do enjoy it!

* * *

**Legal junk: I don't own Codename:Kids Next Door, but Cartoon Network does and Mr. Warburton created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Operation: BASE (**B**asically, **A**ll **S**earch **E**nds)

"_I am honored to hold the position as the administrator of this sector as this facility is second only to our Moonbase in importance!"_ _– __**Patton**__ (Numbuh 60: Leader of the Arctic Training Base Treehouse)_

Seventh Age

_I'm not underwater…?_

He was weakened by the fall, but he felt like he wasn't hurt - badly. Slowly, he opened his eyes and saw lights from a console flash in front of him, providing a bit of brightness in a very dark environment. "Hey?!" he shouted, "Is anyone there?! Is everyone okay?! …Am I dead?"

A light flashed to him from behind and a voice called, "Numbuh 0, over here, man." It was Numbuh 2084, or Lincoln, first name unknown. He didn't bother to give it when he registered for the KND for some reason. He rubbed the dirt, snow and dust off his face and hair, and walked over to where Numbuh 2084 was sitting. Upon arrival, Numbuh 0 was shocked to see he was actually treating Numbuh 999.

"Oh my… are you hurt, Numbuh 999?" he asked concernedly, looking at her flustered face. He then realized that what a stupid question he asked. Of course she was hurt! But Numbuh 999 managed to smile weakly back and replied, "It's okay Numbuh 0… just a small gash on my shin." She said to ease Numbuh 0's concerns.

Numbuh 0 smiled back weakly in relief and said, "Where are the others?"

"Over there," Numbuh 2084 pointed to the back of the SCRAMPER. He threw another flashlight at him and Numbuh 0 pointed it to the back. And what a relief that most of them were okay, though a bit shaken and weak. "Are you guys okay? Is anyone injured?" Monty asked as he walked to them.

"Only me." Chester said back. "I got this huge scar on my arm… probably got scraped off when we fell down here. Man, my mom is going to _kill_ me when she sees this!"

"He was bleeding pretty badly." Numbuh 20 said. "But thanks to Numbuh 2084, he managed to stop it… at least temporarily." She paused for a bit, and then voiced her concerns, "Numbuh 0, I don't like the looks of this… we need to return back…"

Looking around him, with the injured people, the broken machineries and the dangerous environment, he agreed to her suggestion, "I agree. But, how's our SCRAMPER? Is it still okay?"

The question invoked a sense of fear inside her. All around, she could only see sparks flying about and wires dangling everywhere. It could take her hours to fix it, given with proper equipment, if she could find any. "No… it's not." she lowered her head down, saying it in a weak voice. And at that moment, everybody knew they were stranded with no means of contact to the outside world. Everybody looked at one another. A feeling of doom enveloped them all.

"I WANT MY MOMMY!!" Chester bawled out childishly, "This place is so dark! It's going to be our tomb where we gonna end up DEAD! I WANNA GO HOME!" and he began to cry.

"Pull yourself together Numbuh 0110!" Numbuh 0 shouted back, trying to calm the situation down and regain control. "I'm heading out! There's got to be something out there that will help us! I just know it! I'm going outside to check!"

"Numbuh 0, don't be ridiculous! You'll freeze to death!" Numbuh 999 said. But Monty ignored her, and walked over to the door. He pointed his flashlight outside, and the view was stunning.

"Guys…" he said in stunned disbelief, "I think we hit the jackpot…" again, everyone looked at one another. Numbuh 0110 stopped crying. Hurriedly, they got up and ran to the door, though Numbuh 999 was limping as she ran. What they saw was absolutely stunning. Everybody was smiling broadly. Numbuh 0 began to chuckle, but then it changed into a boisterous laugh. "WE'VE FOUND IT! WE'VE FOUND IT! WE'VE FOUND IT!"

And those words of joy from every operative echoed through the empty ruins of what used to be Arctic Treehouse. The area they crashed in was in fact a huge hangar containing airships that looked a lot like the stuff you picture in Jules Verne novels, although all of them just as derelict and shoddy as their SCRAMPER. They all walked out from their aircraft and began to investigate the things inside the newly discovered Arctic Base. They returned inside the SCRAMPER to take as much as provisions as they could to aid them in exploring the abandoned base.

It pleased Numbuh 20 to know that some of the aircrafts in the hangar were in good condition even though the technology was outdated. And it was nice to know too that she could use the spare parts to fix the SCRAMPER. As they walked through, Numbuh 0 stopped and contemplated for a moment as his teammates look at him. "Okay, first priority: find the power generator of this treehouse. Second priority, search for the command post. I'm sorry to say this, but we have to split up into two groups."

Most of them were not pleased, but agreed to the Soopreme Leader's instruction. "Thanks to Chester, he constructed these TWOWAYS so we can talk to one another."

(Kids Next Door – **T.W.O.W.A.Y.S**: **T**alk **W**ith **O**peratives **W**ay **A**far **Y**ield **S**peeches)

"It's just a walkie-talkie, stupid. Who comes up with these stupid acronyms anyway?" One of the operatives that followed them said in disbelief.

"Correction: It's a _2x4_ walkie-talkie." Chester said back while pointing at the kid. He took offense at the mockery of his invention. "Besides, according to the book of KND it's kind of a tradition to name stuff using acronyms so kids everywhere know what it is supposed to do. Strange really, that they use these really long acronyms even though most kids have a short attention span. Irony."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" the kid asked back. "Wait, what was I asking again? Oh well, I shouldn't have ask that anyway."

"My point stands." Chester replied with a sly smile on his face, seemed to be appeased that his little theory was proven so quickly, leaving the kid gazing at him back in a quizzical look.

"All right, enough you two." Numbuh 0 broke them up, "We split into two teams. The injured will have to return back to the SCRAMPER. I'm sorry you two."

Numbuh 999 and 0110 immediately protested, "No, I'm fine Numbuh 0! I can walk just fine!" she said, and tried to prove to him that she was fit to follow the team. But unfortunately with each step the pain was too great for her to bear, as she moaned weakly in pain to disguise her voice to Numbuh 0. Monty, cared too much for her, insisted that she should stay in the SCRAMPER along with Chester. Though he initially opposed, but caved in to the order.

As they watched Numbuh 0110 propped Numbuh 999 back to the SCRAMPER, the rest began to formulate their actions. Numbuh 0 (Monty), Numbuh 2084 (Lincoln) and that kid that had a spat with Chester earlier, Numbuh 45, also known as Thompson, first same unknown, to be in one team. The others, Numbuh 20 (Betty), Numbuh 19 (John Wink) and Numbuh 71 (Timothy Fibb) formed the other group.

"Check mike." Numbuh 0 said as he planted the TWOWAYS, which was a small device thing made out of cork, a toothbrush and random plastic objects inside his ear. "Mother Goose," was one of the codenames for the two individuals inside the SCRAMPER, "can you read me? Over?"

There was a static noise before Numbuh 999 responded back. "Reading loud and clear. Please identify your team and their status."

"This is Team Pudding." Numbuh 0 replied, "Me and the rest of my team are good to go. A report will be delivered from time to time to determine our status in the field. It is also highly advisable for Mother and Father Goose to deliver their status report to us from time to time as well."

"Understood. Copy that." Numbuh 999 replied. She then turned to Numbuh 0110, nodding her head and gave a thumbs up signal at him, "This is Father Goose, requesting status report from Team Cake, over." He said through the SCRAMPER's microphone.

"Team Cake is also ready to go." Numbuh 20 said back. "We will begin our search by venturing downwards these stairs on this side of the room."

"Copy that." Numbuh 0110 replied, "Good luck to all of us."

As the operatives inside the SCRAMPER monitors their friends through voice communication, giving a bit of clamor in an otherwise eerily quiet working area, little that they knew that they were secretly being watched by two small creatures, shocked to see that they were encountering with foreign visitors that they only heard from their elders for the first time. Decided that they should not waste any more time, they hurriedly scurried back to their colony to tell their community about this monumental news.

Back with Numbuh 0, every new area they ventured was indeed a very exciting period for them. It was a blessing that even though the base was abandoned what seemed to be eons ago, it was still sturdy and strong enough to hold itself together, though trash and obstacles that littered the place remained. It posed many questions though; why was the base abandoned? Did the previous Kids Next Door users decided to leave the place because it was no longer strategic? Were they under attack? Was it too far away? Or did they leave the place just because they felt like it?

As those questions lingered in their minds, little that they knew they were being watched from afar. The two small creatures was a bit alarmed at the unwelcomed visitors, as they observed them doing their little exploration of the base. They chattered in an incomprehensible babble for a moment, which sounded like two guinea pigs talking to one another, and left by entering an old pipeline nearby.

--

"Sure is quiet down here, Fibbs."

"It most certainly is, Wink."

"Hey, stay together. I don't want any one of us gets left behind." Numbuh 20 reminded them. Both of the boys nodded, and walked behind Numbuh 20 really close. "And I need some personal space, please?" she grumbled, lowering one half of her eyebrow. Numbuh 19 and 71 could only shrug their shoulders. "Where do you think the generator is?"

"Suppose if we found this power generator Numbuh 20," Fibb said, "How are we supposed to generate power from it? Assuming of course, the fuel for it is depleted."

"Most puzzling question indeed, Fibb."

"Thank you, Wink."

"Well, to be honest, I don't know what kind of generator we're dealing with." Numbuh 20 replied. "I read some of parts in the book of KND that to generate power we can achieve it by two ways; either use lots and lots of salami as fuel, or critter power."

Wink and Fibb looked at one another in confusion, "So… what powers our SCRAMPER?" asked Wink.

"Salami." She answered back.

"Salami?" the boys asked back.

"Salami." She confirmed it once again.

They just stopped at their tracks and stood there as Numbuh 20 continued to walk away. Yet again, Wink and Fibb looked at one another in disbelief. "What a waste of salami." Fibb said in disgust.

"It most certainly is, Fibb."

Salami? 2x4 technology? It can't be! They're back? It's impossible! These were the thoughts of the elderly of the creatures that observed our operatives in secret. An extraordinary important meeting must be called among the elders to deal with this twisted turn of events. For all these years they thought they were betrayed and abandoned by these people that they contributed so much time and energy to make their weird contraptions work. It was now the decision whether to greet these people or otherwise.

--

"How's the leg, Numbuh 999?" Numbuh 0 asked, "Is it any better?"

"The pain has gone down a little bit, thank goodness for that. How are things going on your side?"

"Good so far. We've found a lot of things, but still no sign of the power generator or the command bridge." He sighed.

"Keep looking. You'll find it eventually." She replied back with an optimistic tone.

"Hey guys, over here!" said Thompson as she motioned her hand to her teammates to come over to her.

"Stand by, Numbuh 45 has found something." Numbuh 0 said through the TWOWAYS. "What is it Numbuh 45?"

"Take a look at this." She said, pointing her flashlight to a large barricaded door. Among the obstacles that hindered the door was stack of crates, a really old automobile, various household items and rows of planks, arranged in an irregular pattern, as if the barricaders did it in haste. The team was awestruck. "So, should we push them away and open the door?" Numbuh 45 said, as she and Numbuh 2084 looked at Numbuh 0. He contemplated about for a moment, deep in thought.

"Hmm… should we see what lies behind this door?" he asked back.

"It could be the command bridge we're looking for." Numbuh 45 replied.

"Or it could be power generator. You know, with the electricity and the generating fraghbrlawgah… aww, you know what I'm talking about." Numbuh 2084 said.

Still, Numbuh 0 was not convinced. He needed to know the other's opinion about it. "Numbuh 999, come in—"

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" out came a shrieking scream from the TWOWAYS, loud enough to be heard by the others. And it was then followed by a static noise, a clear indication that it was cut off.

"Numbuh 999!" they all shouted in chorus. "Numbuh 999! Numbuh 999! Can you hear me?!" Numbuh 0 shouted in desperation to contact back. "Chester! Numbuh 0110? Please respond!" but the only thing he could hear was a static noise. Clenching his teeth in dread, he quickly made the decision to return back. "We'll deal with this door later! We need to get back to the SCRAMPER A.S.A Now!" Numbuh 45 and 2084 nodded and ran back to the ship alongside with Numbuh 0.

"Numbuh 20, do you read me?" Numbuh 0 said through the TWOWAYS as he ran.

"Loud and… very loud, Numbuh 0." Numbuh 20 replied back. "And yeah, I heard it too. My team is racing back to the SCRAMPER as fast as we can!"

"Thanks Betty! I know I can count on you!" and both teams quickened their pace and ran as fast as they could to head back to their ship. There is no way they would ever let any of their team members in jeopardy. They ran through rooms, jump over obstacles and slid through crevices and did everything to move at a faster rate as long as their bodies could handle it. With the SCRAMPER in sight, they took their 2x4 guns out from their holster and armed it. It was good timing as they met with the other team just as they were about to storm the SCRAMPER.

The door to the ship was closed. Both teams lined up next to it while not making the slightest sound. With their weapons properly armed and both teams were ready to go, Numbuh 0 gave a hand signal for them to wait for his queue. He held three fingers. One finger was lowered down, and a second later, another. Then Numbuh 0 kicked the door as hard as he could. With the door breached, they all pointed their guns inside the ship. "FREEZE! DROP YOUR WEa…pons?" Numbuh 0 and the rest were absolutely shocked. They couldn't believe their eyes at what they were witnessing right now.

"Hee hee hee! That tickles!" Numbuh 999 giggled as two guinea pigs nibbled on her hair while the other was standing on her shoulder, nibbling her ear.

"Hey Numbuh 0, you're here." Numbuh 0110 said happily as he waved at him. "Check out this cool map these guinea pig guys give to us!" he said as he showed a map to Numbuh 0 while at the same time pointing at a group of guinea pigs behind him. The critters chattered and giggled and waved to the Supreme Leader. "It shows us the location of the command post and the power generator! Pretty nifty thing, huh?"

What was happening in the SCRAMPER left the rest of the team in disbelief with their jaws dropped wide agape. One elderly guinea pig with long flowing beard and a walking stick approached Numbuh 0 and gazed at him. It took long enough for Numbuh 0 to notify his presence. With their weapons lowered down, they finally began to accept this seemingly bizarre event. As the rest regrouped with the injured and some even play with the guinea pigs, both leaders locked eyes for a while before the elderly guinea pig started to chatter in an incomprehensible babble that left Numbuh 0 confused.

"Uh… thanks for the map?" he said back unsurely. The elderly guinea pig nodded and began another barrage of incomprehensible babble, and again Numbuh 0 was befuddled. "No, wait. Stop. I… don't understand you, sir." He explained to the elderly guinea pig.

The elderly guinea pig could only slapped his forehead, and sigh in frustration. Then he ordered one of his younger peons to come forward. They talked to each other for awhile and after it was over the younger guinea pig saluted him. He scurried off to take a piece of paper and dipped his feet on spilled oil nearby. What a smart bunch of rodents. The elderly guinea pig was actually giving orders to the younger guinea pig to translate his word onto the piece of paper.

"You… Kids… Next door, right?" Numbuh 0 read the message out loud. He then nodded to the elder. The elder nodded back and instructed further messages to be written by the younger guinea pig. "We served… the previous Kids Next Door by generating power, bring paperwork, fetch drinks and provide companionship." Numbuh 0 read. "After the… great war?" he read incredulously, "This base is abandoned and we are left alone."

"You poor, poor thing." Numbuh 20 said as she patted a guinea pig's head that she began to be fond of.

"What do you mean, 'great war?'" asked Numbuh 0 to the elder guinea pig. It then snapped it fingers and out came some guinea pigs bringing a book of some sort out and presented it to Numbuh 0. Chester came over to him and gazed at the book over Numbuh 0's shoulder. Numbuh 0 turned to him and said, "It's… a journal." He then flipped open a few pages and read the very last entry of the journal.

_We suffered a heavy defeat at the Alamode. The Annoyingly Cute Triplets who lived upon the Hill, rotten souls that they are, set up a heinous trap in their mansion and unfortunately for us, we were gullible enough to fall for it. The army lead by Numbuh 19__th__ Century is now missing under layers upon layers of frosting and it will take us forever to uncover them up. May their souls be blessed. These are desperate times. We are being spread way too far. And with the loss of Numbuh 19__th__ Century's army, our hopes are increasingly diminished…_

The look from Numbuh 0 and 0110 was extremely grim. Monty closed the book and flipped to its cover. It read, "Book XII – War Journal (Kids Next Door: Sixth Age)"

"Book twelve… there are more of these books." Numbuh 0 said.

"And there are more to the Kids Next Door's history than we previously thought… so what makes us, then? The Seventh Age of the Kids Next Door?" Numbuh 0110 asked back.

Monty could only shake his head in disbelief. With his arms firmly grasping the book, he gazed at it for a moment and said, "The Kids Next Door is bigger than I originally thought." He said, bemused by just thinking of the sheer scale of the Kids Next Door. He looked around, all the operatives, all around the bases, and all the technology they had; and then he realized, The Kids Next Door was not just a mere playground organization that kids play after school to enjoy themselves. It was serious business. Very, very serious business.

He then gazed back at the book, deep in thought. Then after a while, he looked at the elderly guinea pig and asked, "Could you ask your people to restore power of this Treehouse? And could you show us the command bridge?"

The elderly nodded, and called to all of the guinea pigs to assemble and to hear his instructions. Numbuh 0 on the other hand, gathered his fellow operatives in a circle and said them, "After the power is restored, we need to contact the rest back home. Numbuh 20, see if you can find a transport large enough to bring all of our operatives here for training, cleaning, repairing, and re-engineering all the stuff we see in the tree house."

"On it, chief." Numbuh 20 saluted and ran out to the hangar.

"Numbuh 0110 and 999; since both of you are still injured, I will require both your help at the command bridge to administer the treehouse and to establish contact with the guys at the Treehouse of Coolness."

Both of them nodded to the orders.

"Numbuh 19 and 71, follow the guinea pigs to the power generator room and take note of how do they generate it. I'm appointing you two as liaisons to the guinea pigs. Right now we're mere visitors to their home so have some respect to them."

"Indeed, isn't it Wink?"

"Most certainly is, Fibbs."

"And Numbuh 2084 and 45, explore every inch of this treehouse. Use the TWOWAYS to communicate with us. Ask the guinea pigs to help you out. They've been living in this place longer than anyone else, so it's obvious they know this place more than we do."

And they both saluted Numbuh 0 and agreed to the orders. Basically, all searches has yet to end.

* * *

The salami part was a thing I took from _Mythbusters. _I thought the salami rocket was cool and sounded really 2x4ish so I decided pick it up. As for the guinea pigs, well, they're there for a reason. Thanks for reading, and reviews are appreciated.


	5. Operation: SPLITUP

_Author's Note:_ Chapter title was made in a rush and it sounds silly. I do apologize for it. Some action parts, some history and some comic relief, all rolled into one convenient package. Well, enjoy folks!

* * *

**Legal junk: I don't own Codename:Kids Next Door, but Cartoon Network does and Mr. Warburton created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Operation: SPLITUP – **S**eek **P**otential **L**ocal **I**nstruments **T**hat's **U**seful **P**rodigality.

"_2x4 technology is astounding. It's amazing that us kids can build a structure or a machine or a vehicle out from the stuff that adults have created and in the process make them buhmillion times better." – __**Chester**__ (Numbuh 0110)_

_Seventh Age_

The hallway was dark, musty, and damp. For every step they took, echoes were created creating an eerie atmosphere. The only thing that was guiding them was the light from their flashlight and the guinea pigs they just met. "This unlit hallway is most certainly frightening, isn't it, Fibb?"

"It most certainly is, Wink. I can't believe Numbuh 0 gave us this assignment." He said as they followed a bunch of guinea pigs to the power generator. "I mean, how useful are these bunch of rodents to us anyway? It's not like they know how to operate a power generator."

"With all the crazy and weird things I saw these past few weeks, from airworthy rickety ships and guinea pigs who can translate languages, I'm willing to believe anything that gets thrown at us, Fibb."

"You're hopeless, Wink." He said in disbelief as he shook his head.

The guinea pigs took them to a large metallic door that looked like it had not been opened for ages. Both of the boys gazed at it for a while as they tried to figure out what were they supposed to do with it.

"So we need to push it or something?"

One of the guinea pigs shook his head. Afterwards, he turned around to face the crowd behind him and began to chatter incoherent babble to them. They all nodded and entered some small openings around the door.

"They're leaving us!" Wink and Fibb shouted in disbelief. "Wait! Don't go!" but the cry fell into deaf ears. With all the guinea pigs leaving them, Wink and Fibb were now all alone in the hallway, standing in fear while on the verge of crying. Suddenly there was a thumping noise. The thumping noise began to grow louder and in a fast succession. A rusty metallic noise was heard creaking very loudly. At this point Wink and Fibb were extremely scared and they held on one to another. And then, a miracle happened.

All the lights, provided if it was from an unbroken light bulb, started to flicker and shine brightly. The hallway was brightly lit and no longer scary. They slowly release one another grasp and wondered their eyes around in disbelief. Seconds later, the large metallic door in front of them began to creak. It sounded like someone was lowering a drawbridge down. The door opened slowly, but as it opened, the gap in-between the door emitted a bright blue light from the room inside. It was so bright that both Numbuh 19 and 71 had to squint their eyes to see what lies behind the door. And what a sight it was to behold.

It was a huge room, in a vertical sense. One would look up and would never see the ceiling because it was _that_ high. It was a circular room, with its walls filled with those exercise wheels that were occupied by thousands of scurrying guinea pigs to power the Kids Next Door Arctic Treehouse. In the middle there stood a towering dynamo that generates the electricity. It revolves at a stupefying speed, generating heat and noise. Occasionally, it produced a lot of electrical arcs, but thankfully it was captured by some of the lightning rods around the room and was grounded properly.

--

At the command bridge, there was much joy after the full power was finally restored. "All right, we finally have power!" Numbuh 0110 happily declared as he, Numbuh 0 and 999 watched the ancient obsolete computers began to operate after the lights went on. "And man, do we need to upgrade these computers."

"You know, it's kind of weird to know that us kids invented computers a hundred years before the adults do." Numbuh 999 said to them. "It's mind blowing."

"Mind blowing, indeed. Though, I agree that we need a replacement. These computers look too ancient, even by adult standards. What we need a computer more powerful that the ones that NASA or IBM uses. I bet our scientists can come up with something that meets our specifications." Numbuh 0 said. "Hmm… that's funny." He mused, "I thought there's supposed to be a computer called 'The Soopah Big Computermabob' just like the Computuh at our treehouse said."

"Hey… Numbuh 0," said Numbuh 0110 as he motioned his hand to ask him come over, "I think this computer is talking to us."

Perplexed and curious, Numbuh 0 headed over to the computer console where Numbuh 0110 was manning. Numbuh 0110 pointed to an ancient printer of a sort with a fresh piece of paper just printed out of it. It was written like a telegram. Numbuh 0 tore it away and read it:

_GREETINGS. THIS IS THE SECONDARY BACKUP OF THE SOOPAH BIG COMPUTERMABOB, THE CUSTODIAN AND GUARDIAN OF ALL KIDS NEXT DOOR INFORMATION, SECRETS AND DATABASES. I HAVE BEEN IN A NON-OPERATIONAL STATE FOR EXACTLY 97 YEARS, 11 MONTHS, 2 DAYS, 19 HOURS AND 48 MINUTES. _

"Wow…" uttered Numbuh 0 in disbelief. The sentiment was shared by Numbuh 999 and 0110 as well.

_UNTIL THE PRIMARY COMPUTERMABOB IS OPERATIONAL ONCE AGAIN, I WILL OVERSEE THE OPERATIONS AND DAILY GO THROUGHS OF ALL KIDS NEXT DOOR ACTIVITIES. DAILY REPORT WILL NOW COMMENCE. A TOTAL SYSTEM OVERHAUL AND UPGRADE IS URGENTLY NEEDED. OVERALL PHYSICAL STATE OF THIS TREEHOUSE NEEDS TO BE CHECKED AND EVALUATED THOROUGHLY TO AVOID ANY UNWARRANTED INCIDENTS. DATABASE NEEDS TO BE IMMEDIATELY UPDATED. OVERALL STATISTICS – DAMAGES SUSTAINED: 76 PERCENT. TOTAL POWER OUTPUT: 45 PERCENT. LIST OF OPERATIVES IN DATABASE: 450,672. LIST OF SECTORS IN DATABASE: 87. _

"Wait, wait, wait!" said Numbuh 0110. "I don't remember registering kids _that_ many!"

"It must be the number of operatives from the Sixth Age." Numbuh 999 replied. All of the sudden, she had this blank look on her face. She shook her head in disbelief, and began to smile slowly as she finally began to realize something, "This is crazy guys. Just look at how many kids were in the Kids Next Door at that age! If we think we have too many operatives now, wait until we reach a couple of years soon! I bet it's going to mushroom into the thousands! Buhmillions even! Geez, do you guys know what this means? It means that we're the pioneer members of the Seventh Age of the Kids Next Door! The new generation! We're starting from scratch! The first of its kind! Isn't it exciting?! Don't you guys feel it? Years from now, kids at that time will look at us and say, 'Hey, this is nifty daddy-o! They're first operatives of the Seventh Age!'" she said with a broad smile on her face with both of her hand clenched.

Both of them smiled back at her. It was hard not to think the fact that they all were the first members of the Seventh Age of the Kids Next Door, the new opening chapter of the secretive organization. Little by little, a sense of pride began to envelop the three of them. Numbuh 0 chuckled softly, and said, "Yeah. It does kinda give you this sense of greatness. I mean, we're the ones who are going to shape up all the things that's gonna be followed by the operatives of future generations." After that moment of realization and proud sensation, Numbuh 0 slowly turned to the printed message and read it again.

_CONTACT TO OTHER TREEHOUSES IS IN PROGRESS. ONE FOUND. DOWNLOADING OPERATIVES' DATABASE. IT WILL TAKE APPROXIMATELY 30 MINUTES TO COMPLETE. _

"The message ends here." Numbuh 0 said to them.

"And why did the Soopah Big Computermabob say it's a secondary backup?" asked Numbuh 999.

"Maybe there's another one?" Numbuh 0110 said back. "But the question is… _where_?"

"The Computuh in The Treehouse of Coolness said there's a Moonbase out there…" Numbuh 0 said, with his index finger placed on his chin, "Maybe it's there?" But then, he shook his head, "Never mind that. For now on, let us save our concerns for the rebuilding of the Kids Next Door. We can worry about the Computermabob later." He said, and Numbuh 999 and 0110 nodded their heads in agreement. "All right team. We have a job to do. Numbuh 999, try to establish contact with the Treehouse of Coolness. Hopefully Ben will answer the call."

"Roger that, chief!" Numbuh 999 saluted him and began her work. "Scanning frequency. Establish contact. Priority: Normal. No encryption. Man, we really do need to upgrade this thing!" she said as she typed the words with a keyboard that looked a lot like a typewriter with difficulty. Maybe it was a typewriter to begin with. She then placed her mouth near to a microphone thing that look a lot like an antique telephone receiver and said, "Hailing Treehouse of Coolness. Come in…"

--

"Looks like the power's back on." Numbuh 45 said, as she adjusted her sights by squinting her eyes to the brightly lit area they were in now. Most of the guinea pigs that were accompanying them scattered around the place to make sure the place was safe for them to walk around.

"Thank goodness." Numbuh 2084 said as he switched his flashlight off.

"What do you think this place is?" she asked.

"Dunno. Looks like some sort of a training area. With the obstacles and simulations fraghgrahwargh… d'aww, you know what I'm talking about."

She gazed back at Numbuh 2084 one of her eyebrow lowered, "I shouldn't have asked that." She said to herself. Despite that, she would agree with Numbuh 2084 that this place was indeed some sort of a training area. The place they were in was as big as a football field, with junk and garbage scattered around. There was a broken obstacle course laid in the middle, and it looked too dangerous just to walk through it. A broken stadium track overgrown with grass and roots were on the left, which was surprising since it was in the Arctic, and four floodlights encircling the field.

"This must be where most of the training is conducted." Numbuh 45 said.

"And look at this." Numbuh 2084 said as he pointed to a strange looking machine. "Looks like a robot, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, a big huge robot…" she replied back, a bit intimidated by the size of the machine. The non-operational robot was as big as a truck but looked like a spider in appearance. Cobwebs and dust were the only things that covered the doomed machine.

Numbuh 2084, a curious operative that he was, tapped the cold metal skin of the robot with his finger. After a moment or so, he turned his head to Numbuh 45 and said with a shrug, "Hmm, I guess it really is dead." He then proceeded to climb up the robot to satisfy his curiosity.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Numbuh 45 said nervously.

"Why? Is it because you think it will magically start moving somehow? C'mon Numbuh 45, those things only happen in movies, comic books or stupid fanfics, with recycled story, redundant plots and predictable twist fraghblarghwarrh… aww, you know what I'm talking about."

"Hey, all I'm saying that you should be careful, that's all." She replied back, a bit discontented with her fellow operative's remark.

"Don't worry about it, I will." He said back, and resumed his climb. Numbuh 45, still feeling somewhat frustrated with Numbuh 2084, began to venture elsewhere to explore. Once he reached the top, he turned around and admired the breathtaking view from the top of the robot. He saw Numbuh 45 'talking' with some of the guinea pigs, wondering what they were talking about.

"Yeah, I tried to tell him that, but he just won't listen." She replied to the guinea pigs. All of them were alarmed at Numbuh 2084's nonchalant attitude. A guinea pig explained their concerns to Numbuh 45, and strangely, she seems to understand just what the heck they're talking about.

"Yeah, it is dangerous. Why do you think I warned him in the first place?" she answered, and the guinea pigs replied back. "What do you mean it will be operational if a kid goes near that thing?" At this point, Numbuh 45 became very concerned, as she turned her head around to look at Numbuh 2084 while putting her hand over her mouth. She saw Numbuh 2084 waving at her while jumping up and down on the robot, oblivious to the danger. His actions subsides her concerns a bit, but still enough to make Numbuh 45 uncomfortable. She looked back at the guinea pigs and said, "He should be okay, right?" she said unsurely to calm her own anxiety, "I mean, that thing hasn't been operational for years, it should be busted or something… right?" the guinea pigs responded with a nervous shrug.

"Hahahahahahahha!" Numbuh 2084 laughed like the happy child he was as he jumped on that thing, screaming like a maniac. "Work! Work you stupid thing! What, don't you have batteries, huh?" The jolt and shake as a result of Numbuh 2084 jumping around awoke something inside the metallic beast. Inside the robot's twisted metal of convoluted wires and maze of pipes, old gears and dynamos suddenly began to spin erratically. After the dust and rust began to clear off, the spinning became faster and louder, enough to cause alarm to everyone and everything inside the training area.

"Oh no…" Numbuh 45 said gravely. She looked at a nervous Numbuh 2084 with a piercing gaze, "I told you not to play with that thing!" she shouted angrily at him. And then, just like magic, one of the seven legs of the machines began to move, creating a loud creaking metal noise. Steam began to come out from the robot's rear end. Gears revolve in full speed, and lights began to shine out. It jolted up, throwing Numbuh 2084 away and landed near Numbuh 45.

"Numbuh Twenty Eighty-four!" she screamed as she ran to his aid. "You're okay, Lincoln?"

"It's all right, I'm okay." He replied back, shaking his head to compose himself, "But we better brace ourselves…" he said back as he pointed to the fully operational SPIDERBOT.

(Kids Next Door – **S.P.I.D.E.R.B.O.T**: **S**ooper **P**rogrammable **I**ndependent **D**roid **E**ducate **R**ecruits **B**y **O**rderly **T**raining)

"We have to take it down, one way or another!" Numbuh 45 said with her teeth clenching, as she, along with Numbuh 2084 pointed their 2x4 guns at the robot and shooting at it. Unfortunately, it was too strong for their weapons to do any damage.

"Our weapons aren't doing anything!"

"Thanks Captain Obvious!"

And with that, the SPIDERBOT lifts one of its huge legs and slam it on to the operatives, but they dodged the attack in the nick of time. The only thing left was a huge crack mark on the floor. The two operatives took cover behind a stack of crates as they reload their weapons. Numbuh 2084 peered out to look at the enemy. The SPIDERBOT was moving erratically as it spun around and some of its legs were twitching abnormally. "That thing is malfunctioning." He said with a whisper. "We just need to bring it down hard to destroy it."

"And how do you propose that?" Numbuh 45 asked as she repositioned herself behind the crates.

Numbuh 2084 looked around, searching for something that could aid them to bring down this monstrosity. Then, he saw something hanging on the wall nearby. "You see that?" he said as he pointed to that thing. "It's a rope. If we could get that rope and each of us grab on its end and hold it together, and we run towards the robot and trip it, aw you know what I'm talking about."

"Are you kidding?" she shouted back silently through her clenched teeth. "It's suicidal! And besides, it's a high-tension wire, not a rope!"

"Why does it matter? And do you have any other suggestions?" Numbuh 2084 argued back. Numbuh 45 couldn't answer back as she furrowed her eyebrows back looking at him with irritation. Whether she liked the plan or not, she had to agree with it since she couldn't come up with a better one. "Okay, here's my plan." He said, "Go get that ro- or high tension wire or whatever it is, I'll try to distract it from you."

Numbuh 45 widened her eyes in disbelief, "What, are you crazy?!"

"GO!" he shouted at her and he emerged out from his hiding and to the full view of the SPIDERBOT, "Hey you, over here!" he shouted as he waved both of his arms at it.

The SPIDERBOT zeroed in to him with its crosshair right in between his eyes. A compartment inside his head opened up and out came a machinegun that fire jawbreakers and begin to shoot at Numbuh 2084. The two operatives went on opposite directions. Numbuh 2084 managed to get the robot to tail him while Numbuh 45 ran for the rope. So far, the jawbreakers managed not to hit Numbuh 2084, as he jumped, ducked, and slid through obstacles doing anything to avoid to get hit.

"I got it!" Numbuh 45 shouted from across the room. And suddenly then, the attention was turned to Numbuh 45, and the robot stopped pursuing Numbuh 2084.

"Aw heck naw!" he said in disbelief as he shook his head. He picked up a few rocks and threw them at the robot but the effort was useless as it ignored him. Numbuh 45's eyes were widened in fright as she was too paralyzed to move. Numbuh 2084 kept shouting her name to snap her back as the SPIDERBOT was in charging directly in full speed at her.

"NUMBUH 2084, LOOK OUT!" and finally with that, she snapped back and came back to her senses. She saw the large robot charging at her, and she also saw the huge gap underneath the robot and above the floor. She started to run _toward_ it. "What the… Numbuh 45, are you _insane_?! Run back the _other_ way!" The SPIDERBOT lifted one of its legs up high, preparing to strike her down. But Numbuh 45 noticed it and she quickly jumped and slid underneath the robot, successfully evading the strike. The she threw one end of the rope to Numbuh 2084 and jumped up. They looked at one another.

"On three." Said Numbuh 2084, and both of them nodded in agreement.

"One."

"Two."

"THREE!" and they ran off with a bit of distance between them, charging at the SPIDERBOT. When the rope hit the one of the legs the robot began to jerk around. The continued to push forward until the rope hit all of the legs and they finally managed to trip it down. And what a strong noise it made when it was tripped. It sounded like a thunderous gong fell onto a huge slab of concrete and it echoed repeatedly across the training arena. It was so loud that Numbuh 45 and 2084 had to cover their ears with their hands. The shock from the fall travelled through the SPIDERBOT's body and to its legs, where it finally crumbled down and cut off. The robot twitches around until it finally came to a halt. The lights flicker off, the engine that powered it died down, and the steam finally disappeared. Numbuh 45 and 2084, who were watching the scene unfold before them, began to taste the smell of triumph.

"YES!" they gave each other a high five. "We did it!" Numbuh 45 said.

"Whoo!" Numbuh 2084 let a huge breath of relief, "Man, oh man! If that was how the sixth age kids trained, I don't know how are we gonna up them up!" but then, suddenly, his left shoulder was hit, by Numbuh 45.

"OW! What was that for?" he said as he rubbed his shoulder to ease the pain, "With the hitting and the violence—"

"YOU PURPOSELY TRIED TO GET ME INTO TROUBLE!" she screamed.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

--

"Man, look at this place. What a dump." Numbuh 20, also known as Betty, said as she walked through the abandoned, desolate hangar. "And all these planes are ancient pieces of junk." She scoffed. But then her frown changed to a disappointed look. "But… these pieces of junk are the only thing that can help us to get out of this place." A guinea pig on her shoulder chattered as if in agreement with her. "Yeah, I still have my hopes up." She replied back, and the guinea pig smiled at her.

Her eyes moved around in search for that perfect transport to ferry all the operatives. The guinea pig too helped her in her search. Just then they came across a vehicle just perfect to their specifications. It was a ship – a flying ship at that. It was an old ironclad warship that was salvaged from the depths of the oceans and fitted with a deflated balloon covering the top of the ship. Numbuh 20 quickly climbed inside and began to scout the ship. It was a bit broken, but still in good condition and airworthy. She headed straight to the bridge to assess the equipment there.

"This is perfect!" she exclaimed in relief. But the relief quickly turned into disappointment as she gazed at the deflated canvas around her, "But I need helium if I want this ship to be airborne…" Then suddenly, the guinea pig told her a stockpile of hydrogen was kept safe in a nearby warehouse.

"Hmm, hydrogen you say? It's a bit dangerous… but I'm willing to risk it." She said to herself smiling. "After all, what's a pilot without a taking a bit of a risk? If I make it back, I'll be sure to refuel it with helium." Then, Numbuh 20 gave the guinea pig a scaled down high-five by slapping the tip of her pointing finger with the guinea pig's paw. "This is a beginning of a beautiful friendship pal."

* * *

There you have it, and hope you like it. Thanks for reading and please leave a review!


	6. Operation: FIX

Author's Note: Yet another silly name for a chapter title. There are some minor confrontations, which will lead into a bigger one into the later chapters... which I have yet to come up with a good idea. But in the mean time, enjoy this one!

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**Legal junk: I don't own Codename:Kids Next Door, but Cartoon Network does and Mr. Warburton created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Operation: FIX** - ****F**ixing **I**n **X**-treme

"_We build this treehouse in this unforgiving and merciless land so the adults won't find us." – __**Altair La-Ahad**__ (Numbuh 1191) _

_Fourth Age_

"Arctic Base, come in. How are things going on over there, Numbuh 999? I hope it's all okay there. Anyway, this is Treehouse of Coolness requesting Sector Identifier Code, over."

"Understood, Numbuh 01. Standby for further intstructions, over." She said through the microphone. She punched the letters on the typewriter-like device and waited for confirmation from the Soopah Big Computermabob. Just then, a letter was printed out and she tore it away and began to read it.

_SECTOR IDENTIFIER CODE REQUESTED. PROCESSING._

_.6 percent  
_

_..27 __percent_

…_41 __percent_

…_.65 __percent_

…_..84 __percent_

_TEMPORARY DESIGNATED NAME TREEHOUSE OF COOLNESS IS NOW IDENTIFIED AS SECTOR V. CHANGE IS NOW PERMANENT AND CANNOT BE AMEND WITHOUT A VALID REASON APPROVED BY THE SOOPREME LEADER. WELCOME TO THE FOLD, SECTOR V._

"That took long enough." Numbuh 999 said with a wry smile. "Congratulations, Ben. Your place is called Sector V from now on. I hope you like it."

"Heh, I was thinking of a cooler name, but hey, Sector V ought to do just fine." He replied back, smiling, not that the person on the other side of the line would see it, though.

"Just a reminder, Numbuh 01. There's an aircraft inbound from the Arctic Base heading towards Sector V. ETA is most likely 20 minutes. And give her a red carpet treatment, will ya? She worked hard to fix that thing."

"Understood. Numbuh 20 will be given a welcoming party which she rightfully deserves. Next transmission will commence when she arrives at the treehouse. Sector V out." With that, static noise came out from the headset. Numbuh 01 removed them away and placed it around his neck. He revolved his seat around and looked at the folks in the sector, saying to them, "All right guys, listen up:" everyone paused their activity for a moment and looked at him. "Betty is coming back and I want the hangar to be clear from debris. I want one person to command the radio and guide her in when she's ready to land."

"Ben." One of the operatives said with antagonistic disbelief, "Who died and made you the leader of this place?"

"Hey, I'm Monty's brother." He replied coolly. "I know he's going to appoint me to be the leader of Sector V eventually."

"That's nepotism and you know it! What makes you eligible to be the leader of this place anyway? And what's with this Sector V nonsense?" the operative asked back.

At this moment, Ben's patience began to run thin, "It's the name of our treehouse, you dolt!" He replied back, losing his coolness. "Look Boss, I know you used to have a big candy smuggling ring back when Father was in power and all, and we appreciate that you gave us something to brighten up our day when we toil in the factories then, but it doesn't mean that you're going to be the big boss of this place now."

Boss was unsatisfied. He glared at him with his discontented eyes and said, "We'll see about that."

--

"Numbuh 20 to Sector V." Betty relayed through her microphone headset, "I'm making my descent for landing, over. Please reconfirm my current altitude and position."

"Will do." The operative manning the radar replied, "You are descending at a rate of 20 feet per second and heading towards southwest at zero-niner-seven. Please maintain your current trajectory and everything will fall into place. Wow, talking in military lingo is so cool!" he exclaimed in disbelief.

"Well, you're gonna do that often Fizz. Might as well enjoy it." She replied back with a grin.

The radar continuously monitored the flying ship by assigning it with a green dot. Nothing was irregular until a red dot suddenly emerged on the opposite side of the radar. A warning beep began to sound, alerting Fizz. "Numbuh 20, come in." he said through the microphone while looking at the radar with concern.

"Yes Numbuh 22, what is it?"

"The radar picked up an aircraft operated by adults." Her heart skipped a beat, "Please wait for further instructions and expect your course will be diverted shortly."

"Copy that, and thanks." And with that, she let out a worried breath out and leaned back to her chair. She thought to herself that nothing bad would come to this. Back at Sector V, Fizz was monitoring the red dot closely. If it came any closer to the SCRAMPER, he had to issue a course diversion, which would delay Numbuh 20's arrival, and if he didn't, the adult aircraft will spot her and the Kids Next Door's secrecy will be compromised. Thankfully, the adult aircraft made a sudden bank to the left, making it safe for Numbuh 20 to land.

"Sector V to Numbuh 20, please maintain your course, over." Numbuh 22 said, to Numbuh 20's relief.

"Roger that." She replied. "Please make an announcement to all operatives to gather at the hangar bay. We need all the help we can to repair this ship."

--

The ship made its way slowly into the hangar. On the ground, Numbuh 01 waited for the ship to stop completely and for its pilot to come out. "That's a pretty banged up ship, Numbuh 20." Ben said, admiring the hunk of junk that Betty brought with her. As the aircraft powered down, a team of engineers and technicians came to inspect the ship. They were the ones that helped Numbuh 20 in constructing the SCRAMPER.

"Hey, don't make fun of my baby!" Numbuh 20 scolded him playfully as she jumped out from the cockpit. She then gazed at the ship for a while and could understand what Ben was talking about, "Well, it _is _a bit broken, but I have the best technical crew on the planet and I'm sure we can fix it in no time! Isn't it right, guys?"

But, the best engineer crew on the planet as claimed by Betty was actually slaking off at the edge of the deck, playing a card game. Betty lowered an eyebrow in disbelief and yelled at them to get back to work. Ben on the other hand was laughing uncontrollably. As the laughter subsided down and Numbuh 20 calmed down a bit, she told him what Numbuh 0 had in mind for the newly discovered Arctic Base. Ben then replied there was no need to be worried about as he had gathered as many volunteers as he could to join the rest back at the Arctic base.

"I can see his plan working smoothly. Everyone is eager to make it work. I can't wait for the Kids Next Door to be fully operational so we can fight adult tyranny, and eat all the cookies we want." Numbuh 20 said.

"You can hand it to Monty." Numbuh 01 replied back. "People follow everything that he says. He has all the makings of a great leader, you know. Oh by the way, I kinda forgot to tell you guys about this, but we're running short on power right now so I really hope he can find something in that book of KND of his on how to create energy or something."

"Heh, got that covered for ya." Betty put her thumb and pointing finger in between her lips and whistled. Then a horde of guinea pigs came out from the ship, startling and scaring the technicians working on the ship. They screamed and squealed like little girls, even though most of them were boys.

"Betty, what are you doing?!" Ben screamed as he leapt behind Betty, taking cover as he watches the guinea pigs ran in front of them, "You've unleashed a plague upon us!"

"Don't be stupid, silly!" Betty smiled at him, "They're just here to power the generator." And after a few seconds later, the dim lights due to the lack of power was shining brightly again.

"Treehouse power capacity: 48 percent. 73 percent. 95 percent." The Computuh announced. "Treehouse power is at 100 percent maximum capacity. Efficiency is at 96 percent."

"You'll just gotta hand it to the KND 2x4 technology." Numbuh 20 said. "It may not look much, but it's far superior to what the adults have made."

--

Back at Sector V's briefing room, all of the operatives there stood up and saluted Numbuh 20 for a job well done. She then did the obvious by saluting them back. "I have accomplished my mission by bringing the aircraft back for repairing, S—... by the way, who's the commanding officer of Sector V, and who am I supposed to report to anyway?" she asked, a bit confused.

But everyone gave her a quizzical look and shrugged their shoulders, since no one had ever thought of it before. Betty herself was a bit dumbstruck at the reaction and she immediately asked the Computuh for help, "Computuh, who is the Sector Leader of Sector V?"

"That position has yet to be appointed, Numbuh 20." It replied, "A Sector Leader must be appointed by Soopah Big Computamabob and/or by the Soopreme Leader at the Arctic Base. I would suggest bringing a qualified operative to the headquarters so he or she can be appointed and lead this sector."

"HAH!" Boss yelled as he points to Ben, "I told you you're not official yet!"

Ben looked at him back as he furrows his eyebrows furiously, "We'll see about that Numbuh 8055. I'm the brother to the Soopreme Leader. I'm a shoe-in to be the Sector Leader!"

"Now, now, boys…" Betty tried to calm the situation down, as the rest were getting restless about the conflict. "Don't forget I'm bringing all of you down to the Arctic Base to get you all officially instated in the KND… well, as soon as we finish fixing the ship I brought along, anyway, and get this problem fixed as soon as possible. In the mean time, please don't fight, all right? We're all civilized. We're all kids here." But despite the calling for calmness by Numbuh 20, the two boys were still locking their horns together.

"I would've knocked your face off, you snot nosed wimp!" Numbuh 8055 said angrily.

"Oh yeah? I feed fat kids like you to my dog every morning!" Numbuh 01 retorted back.

"You don't even _have_ a dog!"

"Then I'll _buy_ one up then!"

And they blew a raspberry to one another.

"Now that's more like it! Fighting like the kids we are!" Betty said, saying it in the spur of the moment.

--

The weather was thankfully a lot calmer than what they had to go through previously. And in a case of a really huge ship, Betty was grateful it was steady and strong enough to bring along nearly hundreds of operatives in one sitting to the Arctic Base. "Kids Next Door AIRSHAFE here."

(Kids Next Door – **A.I.R.S.H.A.F.E**:** A**ll **I**ncredible **R**otational **S**huttle **H**elps **A**ir **F**errying** E**ffortlessly)

"Come in, Arctic Base. This is Numbuh 20 with bearings of 7-8-0 with precious cargo full of repairing equipment and some 87 operatives requesting for landing, over. Arctic Base, do you read me?"

"Arctic Base reads you loud and clear." Numbuh 999 said cheerfully. "All signs show the weather and other conditions are perfect for landing. Please approach the base from the north, over. And welcome back, Numbuh 20. We can't wait to show you what we've all have done while you're away."

"Can't wait for it, Numbuh 999. Over and out." Betty replied, smiling broadly.

--

As the new arrivals disembark the AIRSHAFE, they scanned the new environment in awe. To most of them, they never once set foot outside of their country, and to go to a very remote place such as the Arctic, was a new experience to them. Then things started to get a bit out of hand. Some of the new arrivals begin to scatter and explore the hangar, touching everything that they laid eyes upon, and playing around. The others tried to regain control, but the orders fell on deaf ears. It was when Numbuh 0 arrived, they immediately restrained themselves. They stood up straight and saluted the Soopreme Leader.

"At ease, everyone." He said courteously. "First of all, I welcome you to the Arctic Base. You are here because like the rest of us, are the pioneer members of the Seventh Age of the Kids Next Door." Everyone started to clap slowly, "The base that you are in right now is the Arctic Base, a once proud Base of Central Administration constructed by the Kids of the Fourth Age until its unfortunate demise at the end of the Sixth Age. As you walk around, looking at the remnants of our predecessors, we must remind ourselves that from this moment on, we will make a promise to them and to ourselves that we will not make our enemies victorious over us, and we will carry on their legacy to make kids worldwide safe and secure from adult tyranny and from our enemies!" the rousing speech garnered thunderous claps from everyone.

"Thank you. But as you can see from around you, the base is in a state of decay and most of the infrastructure is dilapidated. We need your help to make this base to return to its former glory. I need teams of scientists, engineers, technicians, decorators, to restore this base to full capacity."

"I'll help!"

"Me too! You need help with the wiring? Then I'm your kid!"

"Any pipes needed repairing?"

"I think this place is pretty dark. If we put some lights and bright the place up, it'll be great!"

Those were some of the operatives shouting out loud and offering their services and expertise to help the cause, no one was more grateful than the Soopreme Leader himself. After he asked everyone to settle down and organize the repair organization, they then scattered away to their places, with the help of some of the cooperative guinea pigs. Everybody was happy, with the exception of one.

"Yo, Monty."

"What is it, Boss?" Numbuh 0 replied back.

"Look, I'm really grateful you've saved us all from Father and stuff, and you got all these people in the KND, but I really feel it's a bit unfair to have your brother to lead Sector V."

Numbuh 0 raised an eyebrow. "Oh? How is that unfair?"

"Hey, it's not like I hate Ben, but I just think he's not qualified for the job. You have to admit he's a bit of a… wuss. I heard stories that he bailed on you when you tried to organize an attack on the factories?"

"Well, he lets me down sometimes, but that doesn't mean he's by any means cowardly…" he paused for a second, gazing at Boss, trying to read his face. Finally, he let a small chuckle out. "Heh, you want to be the Sector Leader of Sector V, isn't it?"

Boss' was startled, "Get real!" he replied nervously, "I'm not gunning him down just for the sake of me taking a top position! Why, the very idea is mad—"

"Hehe, calm down, man, and walk with me," he said as he put his arm across Boss' shoulder, "I'm going to let Ben to be the Sector Leader, because he's ready to prove himself to be a good leader and operative. We had a conversation when we were registering for recruits. I can see through his eyes that he's determined. Joining the KND itself is courageous in its own right, and for someone like Ben, it's saying something. I believe he can do it. I trust him. You however, I have something in mind."

While Numbuh 8055 was still skeptical of the given explanation, his heart lit up when Numbuh 0 said that, it was as if he wanted to give him a better position than just being some lame Sector Leader, "What is it?" he asked, with great curiosity.

"You're a great entrepreneur, and an excellent smuggler." Monty replied. "Who else we came to get root beer, toys and candy from when Father made them illegal when he was in power?" You're the man! You're the only one who could do it."

Boss smiled, and chuckled, "Heh, I admit, they didn't call me Boss for nothing…"

"That's why I need your help. Most of the Kids Next Door 2x4 technology is created from existing adult technology, and we just tinker around and perfecting it. You have lots of contacts, and with your genius of smuggling and obtaining anything that you can get your grubby hands on, I think you are the perfect kid to head our Salvaging and Recovering Department.

Only a blank stare greeted Monty, "Which means…"

Monty rolled his eyes, in disbelief that Boss couldn't understand the kind of position he was offering to him, "It means you get to go to fly all over the world, get stuff for us by any means necessary so we can further develop our 2x4 technology."

Boss began to smile broadly slowly, "You mean I get to steal things and fly my own jet, just like Numbuh 20?"

"If only you can drive it!" Monty gave back a sly smile.

"DEAL!" they then shook their hands, and off Numbuh 8055 went to rejoin his repair team. Just then, Numbuh 999 emerged from behind and walked towards Monty.

"He seems pretty pleased after listening to you."

"Well, I gave him something that he really loves to do."

"So, what now? All operatives are giving their best to restore this place up, and we still short on manpower for everything else."

"You're right." Monty nodded. "A few kids on our neighborhood just won't cut it. We need help from other kids from different counties, states and _countries_."

Numbuh 999 turned her face to him, looking at him with a bit of a shock, "You're crazy." She accused jokingly.

"I think it's time for a little diplomacy. To the bridge!"

* * *

And off to the bridge they go. Some origins of Mr. Boss on how did he got his name, and the introduction of Mr. Fizz whose character will be expanded more than just being a guy at the cotrol tower who talks with Betty. Monty's unshaken trust towards Ben will soon go downhill after this. Heh, too many information. Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave a review!


	7. Operation: WORLDWIDE

_Author's Note:_ A few words before we continue: this is going to be a preachy chapter about diversity, tolerance and all that jazz. I wish I could write something else, but nothing seemed to come out the way I wanted it to be, so I just have to resort to this. But hey, isn't this what the KND is all about? Banding all the kids in the world to fight adult tyranny?

* * *

**Legal junk: I don't own Codename:Kids Next Door, but Cartoon Network does and Mr. Warburton created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Operation: **WORLDWIDE** - (**W**ith **O**peratives **R**eaching **L**imitless **D**iversity, **W**ill **I**nstigate** D**iverse **E**xpertise)

"_I have to admit— before I joined the Kids Next Door, I didn't know there were people living beyond our borders." – __**Leonius Desmus **__(Numbuh MCMVII of Sector P) _

_Second Age_

"You're up to something Numbuh 0." Numbuh 999 said with a brim of excitement as she ran in chorus with him to the bridge. "And I think I know what you want to do."

"If you think you know what I know what I want to do then obviously I don't have to tell you what I know what I want to do to you since you've already know." He replied back, as he picked up the speed and ran as fast he could, leaving the perplexed and confused Numbuh 999 behind, stopping to think just what the heck he was talking about.

"Huh?" she wondered, looking at him blankly. But then, she shrugged it off and smiled to herself, "You're full of surprises."

"All right everyone!" Numbuh 0 shouted as he burst into the Arctic Base bridge, startling the operatives who was about to begin the renovation and repairing process. "Who here knows how to talk?"

Everyone just stood looking at Monty quizzically. One of them was brave enough to reply back, "Uh… we're not babies, Numbuh 0. We all can talk."

"But, if you mean you want to talk all smooth like," said one ladies man as he gazed at a girl next to him, making her rather uncomfortable as she looked at him back murderously, "I'm the one you can count on, kid. I can teach ya to charm all the ladies like this babe over here… meeeow." He then got slapped, punched and stomped on by that girl.

After witnessing the abject brutality in disbelief, the whole place went awkwardly silent before Numbuh 0 continued his intentions, "Yeah… anyway, I'm looking for someone who _really_ knows how to talk. Like talk, talk. You know, negotiate."

"You mean like interrogate?" one asked.

"I'm thinking more like diplomacy, actually. You see everyone, in order to keep this organization alive, we can't just pick up kids from our neighborhood anymore, we need to expand. Globally. That's how our predecessors did it, and I intent on continuing it."

"Globally? That sounds pretty ambitious, Numbuh 0." replied the girl who trashed that boy earlier, "How are you going to do it?"

"Well," Monty replied, producing his fingers as a mean to count, "we already have the means of communication, an aircraft fleet in case I need to meet them—"

"No, I mean, how will you coax the other party into joining us? Just having a person who knows how to talk is pointless if that person doesn't know how to negotiate properly. You have to know and understand the other party's way of thinking. You can't just open your mouth without thinking properly, because the other party would interpret it differently and miscommunication would occur. You have to be sharp, full of wit and intelligent in order to answer any of their questions and counter their argument. It also helps—"

"All right, that's enough." Numbuh 0 said as he grinned at the girl. "You're perfect for the job."

She chuckled disbelievingly, "You're talking nonsense." She said, folding her arms.

"Hey, if you convinced me into believing you're perfect for the job, then you're more than qualified." He then extended his hand to her, "What's your name?"

"Genki." She replied, shaking his hands, "My operative Numbuh is 140F6."

"I didn't know alphabets are allowed as your operative designated numbuh." Monty replied, slightly baffled.

"Me neither. But I took the chance, thought it was fun. Not a very significant chance, but a chance nonetheless."

"You take chances. I like it. All right, you're the first." Monty congratulated her, "Now, is there anyone else who wants to be a diplomat? How about you, Numbuh 999?"

"Heh, thanks Monty, but I'm not the talking type. I'm comfortable with what I'm doing now."

Monty nodded respectfully in consent with her answer, "Okay then. Any takers?" and then two more people answered the call, Fizz and Cuppa Joe. Since there were no empty rooms yet to be constructed, the four had to set a up a meeting in the midst of the renovation, as the sounds of banging, drilling and shouting were mishmash with their voices.

"I duly apologize for the noise interruption gentlemen." Numbuh 0 said, but Numbuh 140F6 quickly glared at him, as if she wanted to slap, punch and stomp him. "And uh, ladies…" he said nervously. Numbuh 140F6 smiled thinly as she narrowed her eyes. "I assure you that this is only a temporary solution and we will build a room to accommodate future meetings. Now, onward to our agenda: Diplomacy and persuading the rest of the world to join us. How can we ask kids from the rest of the world to join the Kids Next Door?"

"I think the better question is: where in the part of the world do we start?" Fizz said, giving his suggestion.

"He has a point." Joe concurred, "This is a pretty big world. We need to know where we should start first."

"Hmm…" Monty stroked his chin, thinking contemplatively. The word 'world' reminded him of another body, "World… consists of nations and countries. And where do nations usually settle their differences?"

"United Nations?" Genki chimed in.

"Exactly. It hurts me to say this, but the adults has a taken a step forward in terms of diplomacy ahead of us. It's not perfect, but it works… sorta. Therefore, I think we should emulate the adult model. In the United Nations, there are five powerful countries, which are China, French, The UK, Soviet Union, and of course, The United States. I think we should talk with the kids in those countries first. If we managed to persuade them, we might be able to influence the kids in other countries to join the KND."

"Negotiate with commies? Now that's a good idea." Fizz said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Adult ideologies don't apply in the Kids Next Door, Fizz." Numbuh 0 explained, "Our mission is to protect kids everywhere regardless of their affiliation, from adult tyranny. That is the only reason why we are created. And besides, aren't they too a member of the UN?"

"Do the kids from these countries get veto power as well?" asked Joe jokingly.

"I think we shouldn't." Numbuh 0 answered back, tapping his chin, completely missing the joke. "We are not favorable to any countries, and any order or directive is given by the Kids Next Door itself."

"Okay, then it's settled then." Numbuh 140F6 said. "We contact the kids from these countries first. But… who can we contact?"

"I think I know just the person." Monty said, "When my Father was evil and stuff, my brother and I sometimes went to England to meet with mom, 'cause… well, mom…" he was hesitant to explain it to his team of diplomats, but in the end he decided not to. "Anyway, we went to England and we met some of the resistance groups there, and they're in constant contact with the French. I think I can get that covered."

"All right then, negotiating with The UK and French is obviously in your hands." Fizz said.

"What about the rest? China, the Soviets and the US?"

"Do we really have to do America? I mean, almost everyone in the KND are currently Americans right now." Joe sighed.

"Well, we have to. Just a handful of us can't protect the whole countr— wait, continent. We need everyone from the East Coast, West Coast, and the Southern States… heck, even the South Americas, to join us. I put my trust onto you Joe."

Joe just shrugged, "Eh, can't argue with the boss."

"That leaves Soviets and China…"

"I'll take China." Numbuh 140F6 said. "Some of my pen pals are there, and heard that a friend of a friend of mine is heading another resistance group against one of Father's factories there."

"Soviet Union is the last one, so I think I should let you handle this, Fizz."

"NO WAY! There is no way I'm talking to those communists!" Fizz protested angrily.

"You know, that is the kind of attitude why I put you in charge to negotiate with them." Monty smiled, "Maybe you'll learn a thing or two from them." He explained, as Fizz frowned at him, "Okay, I don't want any excuses. You have been given your assignments, and I expect at the end of this week, kids from these countries are here with us in this treehouse to join the KND and fight for the common goal."

Everyone nodded in agreement, even Fizz, even though he did not like his task.

"I will tell the Flight Division to build aircrafts for you guys. In the mean time, while waiting for the planes to be completed, I suggest to all of you make any preparations to answer any of their questions, and give them one heck of a convincing speech. Kids Next Door, let's move out!"

--

The teams seemed to have done an excellent job. The representatives from the superpower countries along with others under their sphere of influence were now under one roof, side-by-side, without borders, and not behind any lines. They were all congregated in the same room, under invitation from the kid who started it all: Numbuh 0. Though, some were uncomfortable, given by the appearance of representatives by their rival countries deemed as enemies by their adults. Thankfully, everyone was being civilized, or at least acting like one.

Under the guidance and help from the Kids Next Door operatives, the multinational children began to take their seats in a roundish room with a stage in the middle, not knowing what to expect. Looking at so many kids from so many different countries, it kind of reminded Numbuh 999 of the 'It's a Small World After All' ride in a certain amusement park she went with her family a few years ago. She began to hum the song quietly.

The place was becoming noisy. Various languages interlaced one another, making Numbuh 999 wonder what were they talking about. Hopefully, it was something positive, and they were all looking forward to this meeting.

"Excuse me." One kid asked Numbuh 999 in his thick Jamaican accent.

"Can I help you?"

"Who are we waiting for, mon? I have heard that your Big Boss is giving us somethin'."

"Giving you… something?" Numbuh 999 said back perplexedly.

"Yes. I have heard that as well." a girl next to the Jamaican kid said in her thick Arabic accent. "You Kids Next Floor are promising us something, yes? What is it, I wonder?"

"Umm…" she didn't know how to respond to that, and became restless. She looked around, trying to find her friends. She spotted Numbuh 0110 trying to calm a very angry red headed girl. "Could you hold on for a second?" she asked nervously to the Arab and Jamaican kids, and ran off. Both of them scoffed at her, and shook their heads in disbelief.

"Can you imagine them?" the Arab girl complained. "They invited us and treated us this way! It is so not right."

"Cool ya jets, gal." Calmed the Jamaican boy. "Haven't you noticed, mon? Dis' place is too chaotic right now to pass some information around. Me sure she's trying her best to help us out."

"Perhaps you are right…" the girl asked back. There was a slight moment of pause between them. "So… where you're from? I'm from Egypt."

"Jamaica, mon. The pyramids, yes?"

The Egyptian girl smiled. "Yes. And, uh, Bob Marley?"

The Jamaican boy lit up upon hearing his name, "You know Bob Marley, mon?!" he asked back with a grin on his face.

"KIDS NEXT DOOR, ATTENTION!" a voice suddenly boomed in the middle of the room in the middle of the stage. It was Numbuh 0110, steadfastly raised his fist up in the air, enthusiastically shouting the universal Kids Next Door call for attention. It was then followed by Numbuh 0 who appeared from beneath the stage and onto the podium. He cried, "KIDS NEXT DOOR RULES!" a call for every operative that acknowledges themselves as a Kids Next Door member. And all operatives in the rooms replied back faithfully, "KIDS NEXT DOOR RULES, SIR!" an acknowledgement that the Supreme Leader of the Kids Next Door is present and to announce their devotion to the KND is unending. These were some of the few KND traditions that survived ever since its inception ages ago, and its legacy will continue with these new operatives. To the operatives, it was a proud moment, but for the rest, it was a bit perplexing, and also somewhat humorous that they were treated with this drama.

But something doesn't seem right. Numbuh 0 was all charred up and covered with soot, his clothes were torn and tattered, and his hair was all messy. Hardly fitting for a first impression. His audience kept quiet about it though, but quiet murmurs were heard. Some of the operatives walk towards their leader to find of what was going on, but he raised his palm and said, "I'm okay. Let me finish this first."

After a few moments of awkward silences, Numbuh 0 began his speech. "Friends…" he said, "I do apologize for my appearance." He said weakly, coughing heavily afterwards. "Excuse me. Need not to worry about me, but do worry for a fellow friend of mine who, without him, I wouldn't be talking with all of you right now." He said humbly. The hall started to become noisy, "Listen," Numbuh 0 implored, "He will be fine, he's at the infirmary right now, recovering."

"Are you sure you and your friend are all right?" one of the children in the crowd asked the Supreme Leader.

"Positive." He nodded. "And this is the very reason why I'm bringing every one of you from every corner of the world here. Every one of us knows what happened a few weeks ago were not a fluke. Us kids were imprisoned and been used as cheap manual labor to operate Father's tapioca factories all over the world. We all were. And even after Father's demise, kids everywhere are still being oppressed and victimized by evil adults. Father was one of them, and the strongest. He was too strong because nobody would stand up against him, and this went over for nearly a decade until this one kid, his own son, himself demoralized and weak, decided that enough is enough, and something must be done in order to end his Father's tyranny. And in his search to end his reign, he found a book."

"What book?" a kid in the hall asked.

"This." Numbuh 0 lifted the book of KND up high in the air. "The building you're in right now serves as its headquarters. The vehicles that brought you here were engineered by its finest pilots and scientists. The kids who negotiated for your attendance, as well as the kids who are standing around the hall right now are its operatives. I am Numbuh 0, an operative, the founder, and the leader of the Kids Next Door. Our mission is to help our fellow kids everywhere. With your help, we will make this world safe for children worldwide and end adult tyranny. And this book— will teach us how to do it. We have the technology and resources, but unfortunately for us we lack manpower to operate, administer and run the Kids Next Door. I invite all of you join us. It's not going to be easy, and there will be hiccups and bumps along the way, but we will persevere, and soon enough, we might learn from each other to achieve this one common goal."

Even with the rousing speech, almost all of them were not convinced, and reluctant to embrace the concept. Numbuh 0's vision was viewed too bold or impossible for everyone to believe that it was realistic. Silence was the only answer that greeted Numbuh 0. The Egyptian girl and the Jamaican boy looked at one another, speechless. One kid shook his head, and left. Another one stood up, and also left. And another. Soon everyone left, and the action left a huge morale blow against the KND.

"No, please… don't leave…" pleaded the operatives to the crowd. Numbuh 0 was in disbelief and nearly in tears. Numbuh 999 looked at her friend in pity. But in the midst of the leaving crowd, one kid digested Numbuh 0's speech. As his fellow friends were leaving, he was the only one sitting, contemplating.

"Our capitalist comrade is right." He said to himself. Determined, he stood up, and shouted. "I will join you in your noble goal, comrade Numbuh 0!" and everyone stopped in the tracks, and all attention directed towards to that kid.

"Comrade Moosk… what are you doing?" his friend asked, bewildered at his answer.

"I have thought of it thoroughly." Moosk replied. "Don't you people see it?" he said to everyone, "Isn't it why all of you are here in the first place? To fight against evil adults? And all of the sudden all of you are leaving? Why is it I wonder? Is it too difficult? Too impossible for us to reach this goal?" he said. "Or all of you are cowards?"

That remark sparked a huge amount of anger from the crowd and each began to hurl insults at Moosk. But he just stood smiling while the rest of the KND were trying their best to quell down the tense situation. As the crowd continues to hurl insult at Moosk, he valiantly walks over to the podium, and politely asked Numbuh 0 for the microphone. He nodded. Moosk cleared his throat, tap the microphone for a feedback, and said, "I am Moosk. I am from the Soviet Union. The Supreme Leader is an American, and I yet I find myself agreeing with him."

The noise from the crowd died down. Some were in disbelief in what they just heard.

"You all are already aware that our countries are at a state of Cold War with one another. But it is not _we _who are at war; it is our adults! We are just the victims of a greater power at hand. These evil adults have tainted our minds and filled it with nonsense in hopes that when we grow older, we may become just like them! My com— friend here," he put his arm over Numbuh 0's shoulder and pulled him in, hugging him by his side, "has shown to me what's like to see others without judging his or her appearance, affiliation or origin. That is why we're all here. He trusts us that we can be united and fight against the corrupt and evil adult. This is what the Kids Next Door is all about, and I find it very noble. You can go to your homes and just swallow whatever the evil adults are feeding you, or you can join this organization and make changes for the better. Your choice, friends and comrades."

At first, the operatives and Moosk thought the speech didn't bear any fruit, until they heard a clap. It was the Jamaican boy and the Egyptian girl. Then a kid next to them clapped. It was followed by another. Then another. Soon, everyone clapped their hands and chanted, "KIDS NEXT DOOR! KIDS NEXT DOOR!"

The operatives blew a sigh of relief and were very thrilled. Numbuh 0 and Moosk stood proudly next to one another. Then, Numbuh 0 extended his hand, wanting to shake Moosk's hand. "Thank you, comrade."

"No, thank you, friend." Moosk replied back, smiling at him. And the both of them shook their hands, and the applause became even more thunderous. "And I think you need to clean yourself."

* * *

A few bits about Numbuh 0's mom, and Moosk finally makes his appearance in the fic. He's going to play a pivotal role in the next chapter I'm planning, and the mystery revolving around the kid who saved Numbuh 0 will be revealed in due time. In the mean time, I thank you all for reading and please leave a review!


	8. Operation: SECTORZ

_Author's Note:_ Sorry about the lateness, guys. Been busy this past few weeks. Now here's a new chapter detailing about the establishment of Sector Z, a sector that is considered only for the best KND operatives to be in. Well, here you go. :)

* * *

**Legal junk: I don't own Codename:Kids Next Door, but Cartoon Network does and Mr. Warburton created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Operation: **S.E.C.T.O.R.Z** - (**S**ooper **E**ffective **C**ombat **T**eam **O**f **R**owdy **Z**ealots)

"_Save the best operatives for the last sectors." – The book of KND (Ruling written during the third age)_

At the infirmary, two kids were looking at a boy lying helplessly on a bed. His vital signs were being monitored, and thankfully they were pretty stable. He had been unconscious for several hours now ever since Numbuh 0 brought him in. They didn't know where he came from, or who he is.

"He's resting now. He's going to be all right." Numbuh 2084 (Lincoln) said to Numbuh 0, and the kids who were with him. But even with the assurance from Numbuh 2084 he still felt restless and worried for the wellbeing of the kid. The kid looked like ten years of age, thin, and had curly hair. "Where did you find him, man?" asked Numbuh 2084 to Monty.

Monty shook his head, replying in a glum, weak voice, as if he was reluctant to tell it, "I just concluded my meeting with the French and the UK kids, so I decided to go back to the Arctic base. I… flew over a countryside, there aren't any cities within miles, it was all rolling hills… until I saw smoke rising, so I decided to go down and check. Then I saw something terrible… there was a car, it looked like it just got burned, and I saw two people nearby unconscious. I saw the kid, and there was an adult. I think it was his brother or something." He looked at the kid momentarily, and resumed his story.

"I tried to wake him up, but he didn't seem to respond, and I began to panic a bit. I thought I could carry them both, but when I looked at my aircraft… it's impossible. I could only carry him, and had to leave the adult…"

"You did WHAT?!" Numbuh 2084 screamed in disbelief. "You deliberately left his brother alone?! I'm sorry man, I know you hate adults and all that, but—"

"No, no, it's nothing like that!" Numbuh 0 protested, "I called the emergency line on my plane, and as I left the place, I saw an ambulance coming towards the place where I was earlier. It should be… okay, hopefully."

"Yeah, it's okay _now_, man." Numbuh 2084 replied sarcastically, "Separating him and his brother; that must've been a _very good_ decision you've made!"

Numbuh 0 sighed exasperatedly, barely tolerating the continuous verbal assault on him, "You know as much as I do that our medical technology is _slightly_ better than the adults. Look, if it makes you feel any better, after he wakes up, I'll tell him everything, and bring him back to his brother. Is that okay with you? Are we cool here?"

Numbuh 2084 closed his eyes tightly, and sighs, "_Please_ do. The last thing that we want is the adults to know about the organization. And that's bad, with the leaks and disclosures fraghmaurghmukrp… you know what I'm talking about."

"I know, but you know, we can't keep this secret forever. It'll be out eventually."

He raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean? I thought the KND was a secret organization known only to kids like us. How would the adults learn about our existence?"

"Who do you think the previous six ages of the Kids Next Door fought against?" he asked, "We're just getting started, and sooner or later, they will know of our little secret organization and the whole cycle will start again. But this time, I— we won't let them win. You, me, and everyone else have made a pledge, and we're sticking to it."

"Bold statement, man." Numbuh 2084 nodded weakly, folding his arms. Just then, Moosk came in along with Numbuh 999.

"Good news, chief!" Numbuh 999 said, "Thanks to this big lug over here, most of our invitees agreed to join the Kids Next Door. Turns out, the only reason why didn't want to join in the first place was just because they thought the KND was some kind of US dominated organization and they don't want to be a part of it. But after Moosk wanted to join, and we explained the history and the perks of joining us, they just got excited! I mean, just look at the list of countries over here!" she pointed to the notebook she was holding with her pencil, "Egypt, Jamaica, Ireland, Belgium, China, India, Malaysia… the list goes on and on!"

"Comrade Soopreme Leader." He stood straight, saluting him, "How is the wellbeing of your friend?"

"According to the good doctor here, he will be fine Moosk." Numbuh 0 replied, "Do your friends have already deployed the KND treehouse back at your own country?"

"Ah, I must say things are going very good, comrade!" he said energetically, giving Numbuh 0 a strong, but friendly slap on the back, "Moscow will be our base of operations, but if we are to succeed, we will request for more treehouses to be opened in other parts of the Union! But uh, Comrade Monty, I have one but humble request…"

"What is it?"

"Well… it is like this." Moosk said reluctantly, and then he looked around as if he wanted to make sure none of his fellow countrymen were around, "I wish not to be stationed in Moscow, or Soviet Union for that matter, but to another place."

"Hmm? Why's that Moosk?" Numbuh 999 asked him.

"Well…" he stuttered, rubbing the back of his neck, "I wish to see more of the world. In Soviet Russia, we don't get to travel much, and I am very curious about the world we live in. Joining the KND is an honor and privilege for someone like me, and I wouldn't want to miss the opportunity that is given to me. Besides, it beats freezing in Siberia and wrestle bears in the circus, comrades."

Everyone was perplexed, "You're… a circus performer, Moosk?" Numbuh 0 asked.

"Yes comrade. In fact, everyone in my family is a performer. We perform in a circus travelling around Siberia. Our show is on every weekends if you want to see it."

"Ah…" everyone replied blankly in chorus. Then there was along awkward silence before anyone spoke up, "Well, anyway," Numbuh 0 said, "I'll try to make contact with my brother at Sector V, and see if he could squeeze you in."

"Actually Numbuh 0," Numbuh 999 said, "Sector V has reached its operative limit, but some of the guys at the Arctic Base have been thinking to invite the new international operatives to Sector V to teach them basic Treehouse operations and procedures. I already pushed for your name, Moosk. So don't worry about it, at least you got to travel, right?" she beamed at the already unhappy Moosk, but he lit up when he learned that he got to leave the country and see the world.

"Oh, thank you very much, comrade Numbuh 999!" he said happily and hugged her tightly. Numbuh 0 gasped in shock.

"Moosk… too… tight…" she gasped for air.

"Oh… my apologies, comrade." He replied embarrassedly as he put her down. "Hmm… Soviet girls tend to like my hugs… maybe American girls are too fragile…" he mouthed to himself.

--

_A few hours later…_

Numbuh 999 jumped out from the 2x4 airship that was conveniently concealed inside of a tree in her house's backyard. To a casual observer, it looked just like a tree with a crudely made tree house in it. Yes, even before the Kids Next Door, Numbuh 999 had a tree house of her own, although it wasn't as grandeur as KND's. Her house was a few blocks away from Numbuh 0 house, and the Sector V treehouse was in plain sight from her house. At the point of her arrival, she was a few minutes late from the set time her parents expected her return home, so she was a little bit afraid, expecting a scolding and all that, but hopefully it'd be just a minor bother.

"I'm home!" Numbuh 999 declared as she entered her house. "Mom? Dad?"

"They went to the groceries a while ago." A teenaged male voice replied. He was lying on the couch, reading some motoring magazine. "And where were you? We've been worried sick."

"I'm at my friend's place, hung out and all that. Sorry I didn't call sooner." She apologized politely to his eldest brother.

"Is that dweeb finally home?" another male voice was heard. This time, the voice was all broken, as if the person who said that is undergoing puberty. "Finally! At least I don't have to go around the neighborhood looking for you!"

"Hey, be nice to your sister!" the eldest brother scolded him. "And where the heck you're going? Mom put me in charge so I can keep an eye out on punks like you."

"I'm going to the mini mart." He replied, scoffing. "At least I'm telling where I'm going!"

"Probably hanging out with his loser friends at those boring parking lots." Numbuh 999 mocked, smiling snidely at her brother.

The middle child looked back angrily at her sister for the offending remark, but decided to let it slide, and slammed the door. He thought by arguing more with her little sister would be pointless and prolong him from seeing his friends at the boring parking lot. The eldest brother shook his head in frustration at his little brother's attitude. "I really should stop him…" he mouthed, looking at his little sister, "But that'd be no fun because mom won't have anyone to yell at!" he laughed softly.

His sister too joined in the laughter, "But wouldn't mom get mad at you for not stopping him in the first place?"

"Ha, knowing how much trouble he'll be getting into, I doubt mom will put the blame on me."

Numbuh 999 then took a seat next to him and smiled at her eldest brother, who seems to always be there for her, "Why are you being so nice to me? Helping me from him?"

"Well considering the fact on how much he annoy, pester and bully you ever since you two were really young, I have to step in, being the 'responsible' eldest sibling and all. I swear you two always get on my nerves."

--

_At the mini-mart…_

There were two young teenagers seen loitering at the mini-mart's parking lot, making a nuisance to the people passing them by. These juvenile delinquents are friends of Numbuh 999's older brother, and he is usually seen hanging out with them. As they jeered some kid holding a heavily loaded bag of groceries, he came over and shoved the poor kid away.

"About time you show up, dood!" one of his friend said. "Like, where were you?"

"Some trouble with my kid sister. I swear one of these days…" he said bitterly through his clenched teeth, raising his fist.

"Dude, I got the same problem with my little bro too!" Another one of his friend replied, "Ever since that dumb treehouse was there," he pointed to the Sector V treehouse, "he's been acting like a jerk. In fact, a lot of little brats are being like that. It's messing with our cred, dude!"

"Yeah, dude. I notice that too. You think there's something going down at that treehouse?" Numbuh 999's brother pondered.

"I say we better check it out first thing tomorrow dude." His friend replied. "Let's give those little snot nosed brats a lesson for messing with us teenagers," he stood up and gave a rousing speech to them, "and let them know where their place is: under our foot!"

"Yeah!" the others replied, "We've been too nice to them for too long! They're just begging to get their butts whooped! Come tomorrow, they will face judgment from us!" Numbuh 999's brother said enthusiastically.

"We will, dude! But first, let's get some hot dogs! I'm starving!"

--

_The next day, Sector V Treehouse…_

The huge JAMBOJOT piloted by Numbuh 20 descended from the sky and was in plain view by the operatives at Sector V. Ben's anxiety diminished when he saw the aircraft coming toward the treehouse. At the bridge, a fellow operative was seen talking with Numbuh 20 to coordinate her landing. At the hangar, preparations were ready to welcome the passengers, of which were the new international operatives who just joined the Kids Next Door. The aircraft made a lovely landing and after a ladder was placed on the door, the door opened and the passengers disembarked. After all of them got out of the JAMBOJOT, they were greeted by the Sector V Leader, Numbuh 01.

(Kids Next Door **JA.M.B.O.J.O.T –** **J**inormous **A**irplane **M**achine **B**rings **O**peratives **J**ubilantly **O**n **T**ime)

"Greetings fellow Kids Next Door operatives!" Ben said to the delegates, "You are now standing inside the very first treehouse deployed by the operatives of the Seventh Age. I am its sector leader, Numbuh 01. You probably know me since my brother is the Soopreme Leader and all."

"Actually, Numbuh 0 didn't tell us about you, la." An operative from Malaysia replied, "He just told us to come here to see what you've got."

"Indeed comrade." Moosk added. "Numbuh 0 never did specifically say your name."

"Really, he didn't?" he said quizzically, starting to become a bit upset. "Well, it doesn't matter anyway. I think it'd be more efficient if we split up and break you folks in a group of five. So… if five of you would be so kind to come with me; and the rest please follow my teammates over there. Okay then, let's begin with the tour, shall we?" he then led the way as the operatives that he selected followed him.

--

_Back at Numbuh 999's house…_

Numbuh 999 was in a frantic rush as she stomped down the stairs hurriedly to the front door. She was supposed to be with Numbuh 01 to greet the operatives but she overslept. But then, she suddenly realized that her house was awfully quiet, and given the time of the day usually his older brother was in front of the TV watching cartoons. The TV wasn't switched on, and the only person there was her eldest brother reading the newspaper.

"Wait a minute… he's usually in front of the TV…" she said to the eldest brother bafflingly.

"Oh, him?" her eldest brother replied, "He said he has some stuff to do with his friends."

"Do you know where he's going?"

"Beats me. I did hear him mumbling to himself something about a treehouse or whatever."

It struck a heavy cord at Numbuh 999. What would a teenager want to go to the treehouse? "Oh no…" Numbuh 999 said gravely, and quickly she bolted away.

**TEEN ALERT! TEEN ALERT! TEEN ALERT! TEEN ALERT! TEEN ALERT! TEEN ALERT! TEEN ALERT! TEEN ALERT! ****TEEN ALERT! ****TEEN ALERT! ****TEEN ALERT! **

"One step closer and this wimp is done for!" Numbuh 999's brother screamed as his buddies held Ben upside down by his legs. There were more of them this time; all ten of them. Ben was in tears, fearing for his own safety. The entire tree house was put in high security mode, as alarms were blaring and every inch of the place were flashing with red light. The others couldn't do anything to help Ben as any action that they would take could spell the end for the Sector Leader of Sector V. Some of the operatives with 2x4 guns could only aim at them, but with little training that they had, they wouldn't take the chance as one wayward shot could hit Ben.

"Ye buncha cowards!" A red headed Irish girl screamed at them. "If ye teenagers think ye can take us down, put the boy away and come face us like the greasy pimply teenagers ye are!"

"Comrade Numbuh 68 is right!" Moosk replied. "Unhand the operative and I shall give you my fearsome bear hug of doom!"

"You little dudes talk funny!" one of Numbuh 999's brother's friend retorted back, "What the heck's a matter with you?"

"Enough!" Numbuh 999's brother yelled. "Ever since this stupid treehouse is here, you little twerps are beginning to annoy us more than usual! Oh yeah, we know. Every teenager knows. You guys' have been going to this tree house every day. It's like you're planning something. What's with the attitude, dudes? Thinking you're better than us? Thinking a mere handful of you can take on a bunch of teenagers like us? Well forget that! The pecking order won't chance, and all of you better learn where your place is! We're gonna find out what's been giving you this stupid idea that you can fight back, and I'm going to beat the stuffing out of it for putting these stupid ideas in your tiny misguided heads! Now…" he turned to Ben, "Who is he?!"

"Ben, don't tell him!" Numbuh 20 screamed at him.

"Remember your pledge, Numbuh 01!" Moosk said. And the rest of the operatives begged and pleaded for Ben not to tell the name of his brother, or the thing that gave him the idea about the Kids Next Door.

"_Talk_, you little punk!" Numbuh 999's brother screamed in rage as he punched his stomach. Ben was in tears. The pain was unbearable. He felt conflicted. If he divulged the secret the KND will be trouble and if he didn't, he'd get tortured some more. He couldn't take it anymore, he couldn't bear the pain. In tears, he said weakly to the teenagers:

"I… I have a copy… of a book…"

"No… no…" Numbuh 68 said in disbelief, horrified, "You mustn't…"

"He gave it to me… it's on the left draw—"

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion coming from behind. A 2x4 aircraft burst through the walls and the impact knocked everyone away to the floor. As everyone recovered from the sudden shock, the cockpit opened up and Numbuh 999 was in there pointing a 2x4 gun at his brother. "Kids Next Door, battle stations!"

It was the Kids Next Door cry to call to arms. With nobody was taken hostage, the operatives were ready for battle. The cry from Numbuh 999 only strengthened their spirits.

"All right! I am waiting for this moment!" Moosk said happily as he slammed his fist on his palm. The others began their attack by shooting and fighting the teenagers with their fists. Moosk was the most daring of them all. He was like a tank, easily giving a helping hand to the others. He managed to single handedly fend off all the teenagers when they attacked him. He even gave one of them his patented bear hug.

"Dude, this is too much! We're gonna have to, like, bail, dude!" And the two of his friends ran away screaming like pansies, leaving only Numbuh 999's brother behind.

"You win this round, sis! But mark my words, we will come back!" he yelled angrily at his little sister, as he made his way to the hole on the wall that his sister just made.

"Take your clichéd evil villain spiel and stuff it, jerk!" Numbuh 999 retorted back. After watching them fleeing away, all of them let out a sigh of relief and assessed the damages made during the battle. "Well, Numbuh 0 is gonna be upset that I made that hole on the wall." She said embarrassedly while rubbing the back of her neck and sticking her tongue out.

"Ey, where's Ben?" Numbuh 68 asked. They looked around, only to see Ben cowered under a table, clutching the copy of the book of KND.

"Oh, Ben…" Numbuh 999 sighed in disappointment as he was pulled out by Moosk.

"Ha, at least we still have the book." Moosk said in relief. Ben smiled nervously. Little that they knew, there was something missing from that book…

"We have to report this to Numbuh 0." Betty said to them. "We have to."

"No, we can't!" Ben protested, "If Monty knows about this, he'll be awfully sore… I mean, he trusted me to be the leader of this sector and I failed him."

"Well, I'm sorry about that, Ben." Betty replied, "But even if we won't tell him, he'd know. You see, every time the Teen Alarm is triggered, it will send a message to the Arctic Base directly to the Soopreme Leader. He'll—"

Suddenly, the communications monitor went on, and Monty was on it, looking awfully sore. "See?" Betty pointed to the screen with her thumb.

"Sector V, report. I heard the Teen Alarm was triggered at your Sector." He said, "What happened?"

"Well boss… um…" Numbuh 999 said, stuttering, "It is true, but…"

"Nooooo!!" Ben screamed, and he jumped on her, but she was quick and managed to move away, and Ben fell on the floor. "Owie…" she felt bad about it.

"What the heck you're doing Ben?" Monty shook his head in disbelief. "Well, I can see from the monitor things were pretty rowdy when the teenagers attacked you guys. I think I better head over there and see it for myself. Arctic Base out." The monitor went off. And thus, it spelled doom for Ben…

--

_Moments later…_

"Really? And they run like pansies? And Numbuh 999, I'm surprised that you fought your own brother! Man, this organization really changed you guys!" Monty said, expressing his shock and delight that the KND was well worth the trouble of establishing again.

"He had it coming." Numbuh 999 smiled. "But let's not let our guard down. The teenagers have known our secrets, and they will plan a new attack soon. We better get ready for it."

"Moosk agrees. We were completely unprepared, until Numbuh 999 came along and helped us all."

"Don't ye be ridiculous Numbuh 005." Numbuh 68 said to Moosk, "You were the one who gave the teenagers a 'pow!' and a 'bam!'" she said, mimicking the noise and the moves that Moosk made, "You really saved us all."

"Don't be so humble. Numbuh 68." The Malaysian operative said to her. "It's your shooting skills that got us out of it."

"Nonsense, Numbuh 57." A Jamaican operative replied. "It was our teamwork that helped us all."

The ongoing conversation gave Numbuh 0 an idea. He thought that they worked so well together and with excellent chemistry, he ought to tell them about an entry in the Book of KND that would be perfect for them. "Guys… Numbuh 400 is right. It was your teamwork and cooperation that got you through that. And each of you has its own specialty. You guys are the best of the best. And the best of us deserves a place of their own." Numbuh 0 said, smiling to them.

"Oh, come on, Numbuh 0." Numbuh 999 replied, blushing, "We're not that good…"

"I'm serious you guys. I think you guys are the best. I mean, you fended off 10 teenagers on your own! You see, in the book of KND there is one sector that is reserved for only the best operatives. And I see no doubt that you guys are suitable for this sector."

"Oh?" Moosk said in disbelief, getting excited, "What is this sector called?"

"Sector Z."

--

_Meanwhile, at a middle school science lab…_

"I only managed to get this one lousy page from that book." Numbuh 999's brother said as he gave one torn page to a science nerd, "Find anything interesting dude?"

"This… this is fascinating!" the science nerd said in disbelief, "Their technology surpasses even our own! This bike thing… and this BRA thingy… give me some time… I can make it better than these kids can make."

* * *

Aside from the origins of Sector Z, this chapter is also about Numbuh 999's brother (which is also Numbuh 10's dad), the origins of the Teen-Kid war, the introduction of the covert teen operatives, and the beginnings of Ben descension. Well, that's all that. Thanks for reading and please leave a review! Sorry this chapter took so long.


	9. Operation: ADORE

_Author's Note:_ Sorry for the lateness, guys. Now's the time to inject some romance in this story, and I know the majority of writers and readers dig these kind of stuff!

* * *

**Legal junk: I don't own Codename:Kids Next Door, but Cartoon Network does and Mr. Warburton created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Operation: **A.D.O.R.E** (**A ****D**orky **O**perative's **R**omance **E**ndeavors)

"_Girls? In the Kids Next Door? Are you mad? Letting those walking cootie infestation in our organization will be the end of us!" - Numbuh 19__th__ Century (Sixth Age)_

"What am I going to do with you, Ben?" Monty said in a low, disappointed tone as he rubbed his forehead in a futile attempt to cure his mild headache. He wasn't looking at his brother though, he had his face looking down. Ben turned his face away, to avoid looking at his older brother. Those words were like thorn piercing through his heart. The mood was already tense in the small room in the Sector V treehouse where the two had the conversation and where the door was locked. However, the attempt of having a private conversation was proven useless when Numbuh 999, the resourceful girl she was, eavesdrop on their conversation by putting a glass on the door to intensify their speech. And for each every word she then relayed them to her curious fellow operatives.

"He sounds pretty upset." Numbuh 999 said as she listened to the conversation attentively.

"What did he say?" Betty asked back.

"Shhhh. Quiet. I can't hear them."

"I thought by giving you the job as sector leader it'd make you a bit responsible and might build some courage in you." Numbuh 0 shook his head. "I'm terribly disappointed, Ben."

"You actually believe those guys?" Ben mustered some strength to retort back, "You believe them over your own _brother_? Don't you even consider that they might've lied to you to make me look bad?!"

"Oh come on!" Numbuh 0 yelled back, "You told the teenagers about the book of KND and nearly told them my name! Seven people gave the same accounts and they don't contradict with each other! Even Numbuh 999 also gives the same explanation. You know her for a very long time, Ben! She'd never lie to us! She's been our friend ever since we first met her at the tapioca factory nursery school! How I can I deny those facts that you nearly screwed up?!"

"Still it doesn't mean you have to believe them more than me! I'm your brother for crying out loud!"

At this point, Monty felt really conflicted. Ben was sort of right in his argument. Why wouldn't he trust his own flesh and blood? A person that he had a strong connection with? A person he could trust and rely upon? Then he thought by denying his own kin, would it make him an awful brother? "Ben…" he spoke weakly, sighing, "It still doesn't change the fact that you have failed to fend off the teenagers. Just be thankful no one was terribly hurt or our getting more of our secrets exposed to them."

Ben was stunned, and a tinge of fear suddenly swept across his body, "Uhh…" he suddenly had a flashback about the torn copy of the book of KND. "Actually… some parts of, wait, nevermind. Forget anything I say. Heh heh." He laughed nervously. The simple slip of the tongue was really a bad thing that happened to Ben.

But Monty wasn't convinced. From the tone of his brother he knew something went wrong. He narrowed his eyes and gazed deeply at his brother. "What do you mean? Is there something you're keeping away from me?"

"Well… I-I… um…" Ben replied nervously. "You see… I… t-t-t-t-the book…" Monty started to move towards him, as Ben walks backward nervously from Monty. "It's not what you think…" He stopped when he reached a wall behind him. "C-C-Can we have t-t-t-this conversation… later?"

"Where's that KND book I gave to you?"

"Well… I uh… p-p-p-put…"

"WHERE IS _IIIITTTTTT?!_" Monty screamed in rage.

"Yikes. Numbuh 0 just flew into a rage." Numbuh 999 said to the rest of the operatives who were listening to the conversation. Every one of them now were edging ever closer towards the door.

"Aye can hear it meself." Numbuh 68 said. "Poor Numbuh 01. He is so going to get it."

"Don't tell me the teenagers somehow managed to take that page away Ben!" Numbuh 0 yelled in frustration as he paced around his brother, circling him like a predator trapping its prey. "That page contains useful information about body and vehicle armor, Ben! If it falls to the wrong hands, our enemy can use it against us!"

"H-Hey… I never said the teenagers took it!" Ben replied nervously, "It could accidentally tear out when the teenagers attacked us!"

"It doesn't matter! The point is, the page is already gone and we've lost vital information from that page! It could be anywhere by now! Under the table, in the dumpster, with the teenagers, who knows?!" Monty raged on, vocally assaulting his brother. He then spotted pacing, and faced directly towards his brother. His eyes narrowed and he had his finger pointed at Ben. "And Ben, I'm holding you personally for the loss," he said through his clenched teeth. His next decision was a difficult one, and he thought it many times over before giving the final say, "even though you're my brother Ben, you're still a KND operative…" he began to hesitate, reconsidering his decision, "and I can't tolerate such a huge screw up that it'd endanger the Kids Next Door…" he still hesitating, and paused for a moment to think it through. "So I have to strip you of your position as the Sector Leader of Sector V and demote you. Consider you're lucky Ben. I'd cast you out if you weren't my brother." His conscious was clear, and Ben needs to be taught a lesson.

Numbuh 999 gasped silently in shock, "Ben just got demoted."

Everyone shared the same sentiment, "You cannot be serious." Moosk said, trying to grasp the event, "I thought they were close with each other."

"They are." Numbuh 999 replied back, "that is why Ben is still in the Kids Next Door. The both of them adore one another. He knows his brother is still weak, and keeping him in the Kids Next Door is just one of the ways to make him stronger."

"D-Demote me?" Ben replied in shock and sadness, seemingly in disbelief that his brother would do this to him. "Who am I now?"

"You're just another regular operative from now on. Hopefully you learn something from this Ben, and work your way up. I still have faith in you." Monty said dryly to his brother. Though disappointed, he still had high hopes from him. That decision alone shows a bit of confidence reserved for Ben. He on the other hand, didn't see it. He had his head hung down, embarrassed and sad from the demotion. After a few moments of them not talking to one another, Monty left the room, leaving Ben alone. Outside, everyone who had eavesdrop were seen chilling around outside the room, trying to maintain their cool and not looking suspicious when they were already guilt of eavesdropping.

"I know you guys eavesdrop on us. So cut it out." He said bitterly as he walked out.

Numbuh 999 felt bad about it and asked him, "Numbuh 0, are you okay? Where are you going?"

"I'm fine!" he replied in a raised voice. "I'm just going back home, that's all." And judging from his voice, he certainly didn't sound fine. He then stepped into the elevator, and left.

Numbuh 999 shook her head in disbelief and told her fellow operatives, "You guys stay here and go look over Ben. I'll go after him. He just needs some talk that's all." And with that, she left the building.

"Pfft. How come she doesn't want us to help her to help Numbuh 0?" Numbuh 68 said to herself in disbelief.

--

"Numbuh 0? Monty?" Numbuh 999 called for him in front of his house. Nobody answered, not even his father. Still relentless, she went to the backyard to check, and called for his name again.

"That's enough, Numbuh 999, I can hear you." Numbuh 999 turned to where the sound came from, but didn't see anyone. "Up here, dummy." Numbuh 999 looked up, and saw Numbuh 0 sitting on one the tree branches pouting, obviously still upset with Ben.

"If you can hear me, then why won't you answer back?"

"I just want to be alone." He replied with an upset voice. "You shouldn't be here, you're butting in while I'm trying to think!"

Numbuh 999 looked at him back with one of her eyebrows lowered down. She knew that he needed someone to talk with, but he didn't know how to ask her to. So she played along with him and replied in a nonchalant voice, "Fine, I'll leave." And she turned around and walked away. But just when she was about to disappear from his view, Numbuh 0 called her.

"Hey wait! Don't you want to hear what I'm thinking right now?"

Her plan worked, but she wanted to play around some more, "Oh, I thought you _wanted_ to be alone?" she replied back, while not facing towards him.

"W-Well…" Monty replied back stammering, rubbing the back of his neck, "I-I could use someone to hear me out." He finally spoke the truth. Numbuh 999 then turned around, revealing a sly smile on her face.

"Ha, what took you so long before finally being honest at me?" she asked as she ran to the tree.

"I don't know…" he replied back, gathering his thoughts, "I guess… I don't know, maybe I'm just upset with Ben that everything is messed up in my head!" he replied back, throwing his arms in the air as Numbuh 999 climbed up to the tree and crawled on the tree branch to get to him.

"Heh, if you think your think your brother is bad, wait 'till you meet my brother." She then finally sat next to him.

"Yeah," he chuckled softly, "He always has been a jerk. But my brother is different and leagues better than your brother, no offense."

"Heh, non taken."

"Ben is dependent on me. And I am dependent on him too. We both need each other to survive when Father was in power. We look for one another. Problem is, sometimes he's just way too dependent on me on almost everything. I have to save him from bullies, defend him from Father, stand up for him… if only he knows how to solve those by himself, he would've been a better kid. That's why I let him become the Sector Leader of Sector V. I thought it could change him."

"No matter what you thought Monty, I think you succeeded." Numbuh 999 replied, smiling at him.

"Don't say that. He failed me, you, and the rest of the Kids Next Door by letting your brother attacked the treehouse."

"We were all caught off guard, Monty! No one would ever suspect a sudden attack from those teenagers when we still are in the process of reconstruction! We're still unprepared! It's all too quick for us to respond. But you know Monty, Ben was always the moody, sad kid in the corner when we worked in Father's factor. But after you let Ben became the Sector Leader, I've never seen him so energetic and enthusiastic about himself and the people around him before. His self confidence boosted. No matter how you're trying to twist it, Ben is changing, and demoting him is seriously a terrible, _terrible_ decision, and I suggest you rethink about it. Letting him into the Kids Next Door is a good thing you do, and letting him become the Sector Leader is a great way to help him out."

It took a few moments for him to sink it all in, "Heh," he chuckled weakly, "I don't know about that… why you're so keen on keeping him together with me?"

"Well…" she replied weakly, starting to look away from Monty, and her usual cheery face began to frown, "I don't want your relationship end up like between my brother and I. We don't get along with each other at all. And it's always up to my eldest brother to intervene when we quarrel. I guess… I just want to save your relationship with your brother before it ends up becoming like mine."

Monty smiled broadly, letting a small breath out, "That's very thoughtful of you. You know, ever since we've known each other, you've always give me the most helpful advice to me. I have to admit, I'm… kinda lost when you're not butting in my affairs. You nosy, busybody you."

Numbuh 999 chuckled at the small jab, "Hey, I'm not a Communications and Decryption Encryption Specialist for nothing you know." They share a light laughter together.

"Tell you what, I'll try to give him another chance, and if he screws up again, well… let's just say things will be unpleasant to him."

"Glad to hear that. Thanks." She beamed at him.

"One thing still confuses me though." Monty said to her.

"What' that?"

"You have the hots for Ben, don't you?" he made a random, casual accusation, smiling teasingly at her.

"Absolutely not, you idiot!" she replied back playfully as she jabbed his shoulder, and the both laughed once more, "What's so wrong with helping a friend? You're my friend that I've known the longest, and I can easily identify with your traits. And I bet you can easily identify mine too. That's why you need me to talk with, isn't it?"

"You caught me red handed, N—" As Monty about to say her real name, she quickly cut him off.

"And you _should_ know by now really I don't like people call me by my real name, except for my parents." Numbuh 999 reminded him once more in a friendly, but strong tone. "My operative Numbuh is just fine, better than my last nickname when we worked in the factories."

"Okay," Monty smiled back, "I wanted to talk to you. You're the only friend that I can open up to." Whether he had noticed it or not, Monty had held her hands. Numbuh 999 was surprised, but received the gesture warmly.

"I'm glad to hear that." She smiled back at him. They looked at one another for a few moments, before gazing towards the Sector V treehouse.

"How long do you think the Seventh Age of the Kids Next Door will last, Monty?" she asked suddenly.

"As long there are kids who are willing to join the cause, and evil teenagers and adults to fight, we'll be here. Did you know that the Kids Next in the previous age was the only age that didn't allow girls to join them?"

"Wow, boys at that age must be a group of stuck-up jerks." She said playfully.

"And they also the shortest lived age of any Kids Next Door era. Interesting, isn't it?"

"_Very_ interesting. Well, all 'knowledgeable' Soopreme Leader," she teased, any more interesting facts and trivia I should know about?" And Monty continued to tell her a lot of stuff about the Kids Next Door that he read from the historical and traditional accounts of various operatives from the Book of KND. As they were two alone, sitting in a tree, T-A-L-K-I-N-G, little that they knew they were being watched by a bunch of kids back at the Sector V treehouse.

"I knew it!" Betty yelled joyfully as she watched them through the telescope, "I knew they like each other!"

"Like, as in, like, like, Numbuh 20?" Numbuh 68 asked, getting curious as she wrestled for the telescope from Betty.

"Adore, love… that kind of stuff." Betty replied back as she tried to shove her away. "Hey girl, wait your turn, will ya?"

"Ugh, girl stuff and their 'love' shipping thing. They really should put this ridiculous thing in a cannon and put it to rest." Moosk scoffed at them. "Get it? Cannon? Bwa ha ha! At least we boys don't care about these pairing shenanigans, right comrade Ben?" he then laughed once more and slapped Ben's back and left the balcony. Ben didn't respond back, but he was clearly upset.

"Numbuh 999…"

* * *

My own personal jab at the shipping phenomena. Don't take it too seriously. :) I don't know whether to continue this arc of story, as I prefer to write about the KND organzation more. There is a bit of romantic triangular tension just to have more things to write about, and should I really name Numbuh 999 and her brothers? What do you think? Well anyway, reviews are welcomed and thanks for reading this!


	10. Operation: PROGRESS

Author's Note: Another lateness. Seems I'm pretty busy this past few months. For those who think I've stopped writing, I'm not. I'll keep writing until the fic is finished. :)

* * *

**Legal junk: I don't own Codename:Kids Next Door, but Cartoon Network does and Mr. Warburton created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Operation: **PROGRESS** (**P**rogressing **R**apidly **O**verall **G**reatly **R**aises **E**veryone's **S**oaring **S**ureness)

"_All these changes and progress is not from the work of an operative, but from many." – __**Samanosuke**__ (Numbuh 12 of Sector J)_

_Third Age_

The next day, things were looking pretty good for everyone in the Kids Next Door. Every sector is making progress, from The Arctic Base, Sector V, the Brazilian Sector to even in remote and isolated areas like the sector in Tonga. Progress was non-stop, and reconstruction was going at a breakneck speed because everyone is eager and enthusiastic to rebuild the organization. To most of them, the Kids Next Door offers excitement and adventure that many little kids craved for, and at a larger scale. It also offered them something to do after school and more constructive than just sit at home doing homework as dictated by the adults. This was their refuge and shelter from the adults, where kids can be kids and doing something to help other children in the process.

As Numbuh 0 was supervising one of the building team at the Arctic base, an announcement was made through the Arctic Base PA system. It started with a catchy tune first, kind of like the ones in airports, and then followed by the announcement, "Numbuh 0, this is Numbuh 2084! You hafta come to the infirmary quick. The dude you saved, he just woke up!"

Numbuh 0 eyes quickly widened in surprised and raced to the infirmary leaving the perplexed team of builders behind.

"Yo, Numbuh 0! So does this mean you want the chocolate depository on the lower deck or not?" one of the builders shouted at him.

---

"PLEASE, tell me where I am now!" the kid pleaded to the doctors and nurses in a panicky voice. Sweat pores began to swell on his forehead. He wasn't restrained on his bed, but he kept himself on it as he erratically moved his body around, looking at everyone in front of him. "I need to see my brother! I want to know whether he's well or not! PLEASE!" he grabbed one of the doctor's by his shirt collar, "Where is he?!"

The doctor too began to panic as he tried to wrestle himself from his grasp, "H-hey, calm down man! I'm a doctor, I'm helping you—"

"Stop playing doctor with me you fool!" some of the girl nurses, who were on edge before, started giggle softly to themselves when they heard it. "You're not a doctor! You're just a kid, like me! You can't be a doctor!"

"I _am_ a doctor! L-look, i-i-i-if you just stay put, one of our guys are fetching Numbuh 0 as we speak! He'll—"

"What's the commotion around here?" Numbuh 0 burst into the ward. All eyes were on him.

"Numbuh 0, sir!" the doctor and nurses stood at attention and saluted him, "I hope you can explain to this guy, sir! He's pretty shocked, to say the least." The doctor explained to him.

The kid recognized Numbuh 0. He began to stop panicking, and calmness began to sweep through his body. Somehow, he felt very safe with him. Still, he didn't know where he is now or why there were so many kids crawling in this place acting like they have real jobs like the adults.

"You've done your job, Numbuh 63, 2084, and the rest of you doctors and nurses. Thank you. Now please, leave us."

After everyone had left, the kid and Numbuh 0 gazed at one another for what seemed to be an eternity before the kid started to speak, "You… you saved me… but where's my brother?"

Numbuh 0 didn't immediately answer, and decided to dance around the question before giving him a direct explanation. He walked up to a chair nearby and sat on it while looking at the kid. "What are you thinking right now?" he asked, "Ever since you woke up, you see kids running everywhere with no adults in sight. What does that tells you?"

The kid was stunned. He looked away from Numbuh 0, contemplating about the question. Then, sobbing noise was heard, and he clasped his palms over his face, "Oh God… it happens. Nuclear apocalypse where the US and Soviet Union finally nuked each other and the only survivors are us kids…"

"No, no! It's nothing like that!" Numbuh 0 quickly said back denying it. He did feel amused by the guess though, and he entertained the thought what the world would be like without adults. "The world is still fine, and no one got nuked. You're safe and sound in the Kids Next Door infirmary. I brought you here after I saw your car up in flames."

"Where…" he calmed down again, with his sobbing nearly dried away, "is exactly, 'here?'"

"You're at the Arctic."

"Please… no practical jokes."

Monty stood up, and headed towards a window with a closed curtain. "Take a look at this." He said, and he opened the curtains. Through the window, they could see the central lobby of the Arctic Base, with ice and snow covered many parts of the foyer, kids running around doing their work, or getting to one place to another by walking or using some crude mode of transportation. There was a huge four-sided monitor hanging on the ceiling, showing time and weather information, a test screen, flight information inbound and outbound of the base, and KND propagandas. The kid hardly believed it.

"What… what is this place? And who are you? What are you?"

---

"It's about time you science nerds have something to show to me. What took you so long?" Numbuh 999's brother said bitterly to the timid bunch of nerds. His eyes were staring at a piece of cloth that was being draped over a secret weapon that the nerds were working for the past few days. With him was his circle of friends consists of teenage boys and girls who obviously were supportive of his cause. Some of the nerds however, just found the technology they were uncovering was too exciting to simply pass them away.

"Y-y-yes, quite." The head nerd replied with a calm voice, while pushing his glasses upwards with his index finger. He obviously wasn't as intimidated by Numbuh 999's brother as the rest of his colleagues. "As you can see, without us nerds to reverse engineer the technology discovered by you, your cause will be futile. Don't get me wrong though, I support the cause either way because I have a beef with my little brother too," he raised his quaking hands to chest height and shadows covered half of his face, "the little twerp won a spelling bee contest that I failed many years ago and he's the talk of the fam—"

"Just show me the invention pointdexter!" Numbuh 999's brother roared.

"Gahh!" the nerd let a tiny scream, jolting a bit to the back, "Geez, you cats don't need to get all pushy on me, man." The nerd replied in his terrible 50's to 60's period teen lingo. "Okay." He resumed, after letting a breath out, "By retrieving extremely useful information from that book, we science nerds of this middle school have made the conclusions that these kids… I'm sad to say, are far more advanced than us, and therefore by fighting with conventional means against them will be useless, as demonstrated by you a few days ago," the nerd pointed to Numbuh 999's brother, "no offence."

Numbuh 999's brother reaction was quiet and bitter. He narrowed his eyes at the nerd.

"But in the midst of the scrap you were in," the nerd continued, "you managed to steal pieces of technology that us teenagers will need to gain an upper hand against the kids and their loathsome Kids Next Door. Ladies and Gentlemen," he reached for the white cloth, and revealed the contents underneath it, "behold, I give you the Battle Ready Armor!"

The Battle Ready Armor, or BRA for short, sounded much cooler than it look. Underneath the white cloth, the BRA was being worn by a male mannequin usually seen in shopping malls. A disappointed look was seen on Numbuh 999's brother and some of his pals. Some even slapped their forehead or knocked it against a wall. "We've been waiting for days… for _this_?!" he shouted angrily.

"Wait, wait!" the nerd said enthusiastically, "It gets better!" he reached for a button inside his pocket. But before he pressed it, Numbuh 999's brother grabbed him by his shirt collar and pinned him on one of those nearby chemistry lab tables.

"You think this is some kind of joke?!" he yelled, "We're at war with those little brats and all you can offer is a sick twisted imagination from some lonely nerd like you?!"

"I dunno, man." One of the female friends of Numbuh 999's brother spoke as she examined the BRA, I think it's kinda cute…" she said as she reached for it. But as her hands got nearer, the BRA slowly moved on its own power. The girl recoil her hand away swiftly in shock. But the BRA suddenly jumped onto her and hooked itself onto her chest. The girl began to panic and tried to wrestle the BRA away from her. "EEuughh! This is uncool, man! Get it offa me!" Some of Numbuh 999's friends came to her aide.

But then something fascinating happened. Metal began to extrude outwards from the BRA, covering her body, legs, hands, and face. She began to stop panicking and fell silent in incredulous awe. She moved her feet, hands, and fingers around to feel the marvel and comfort that is the Battle Ready Armor. The Nerd was smiling proudly and Numbuh 999's brother was in disbelief. He released the nerd away and began to walk over to his friend.

"You… you're okay?" he asked.

"It's… light…" she said, still in shock and awe, "durable—"

"Try to clench your right fist." The nerd asked. The girl nodded and did as told. When clenched, a raygun appeared from her wrist. The girl was ecstatic, and so were Numbuh 999's brother and their friends. "And try to tap your heels together."

She did it, and jet boosters appeared from the bottom of her feet, propelling her up to the ceiling and crashed through it. Everyone was in shock and they all looked up to see whether she was okay.

"That was _far out_, man!" the girl gave a approval thumbs up from the ceiling hole.

---

"And that, in a nutshell, is what the Kids Next Door is all about." Numbuh 0 explained to his newfound friend – the kid he saved from the car wreckage. They were on their way to bridge. But to get to the bridge, they need to ride a long elevator ride.

"Fascinating. Though I'm not sure about fighting against adults though."

"There is a difference between good and bad adults, bud. We're fighting evil adults…" Numbuh 0 turned away from him and mouthed, "Like my father."

Only a blank disbelief stare was seen on the kid's face. He then realized that Numbuh 0's name did have a connection to the Supreme Ruler Father after all. "So your father is Father…"

Numbuh 0's didn't spoke back, and kept silent. A few seconds later, a chime was heard and the elevator stopped. The door opened and they walk out of the elevator and into the bridge, the command center and the heart of the Kids Next Door. The kid was awestruck and found it hard to truly comprehend that these sophisticated machinery was invented, operated, and managed by children. Never once in his life he thought kids could reach this level of achievements that usually reserved by the adults. Numbuh 0 smiled softly at his reaction, knowing that a lot of new operatives reacted the same way he did. He left him alone for a while to let him take it all in as he performs his official duties as the Soopreme Leader.

"Hey Numbuh 0, another adult aircraft spotted on the vicinity." One operative on the bridge alerted the Soopreme Leader. Should I issue a warning to all KND aircraft in the area?"

"Man, that's the 3rd time this day." Numbuh 0 sighed. "Just give a minor caution. It probably won't be stirrup like the one last week."

"Yes sir!" the operative gave a thumbs up and resumed his post. Numbuh 0 then went to an empty computer at the opposite side of the operative.

"Hey, come over here." Numbuh 0 motioned his hand to ask the kid to come over to a console nearby. On top of the console there was a monitor showing a static screen. "With this computer, I will now show you the whereabouts of your brother."

He was absolutely shocked, "You can do that?! Please, show me!"

Numbuh 0 nodded back politely. He typed something on a keyboard that was made out of discarded educational toys. The screen then went online and on it was written:

_Input camera serial number:_

"Before I brought you to the Arctic Base," Numbuh 0 said, "I planted a bug, well, bug_**s**_, actually, that we call FLIES inside of your brother's shirt. Once the object which it was inserted into stopped moving, the FLIES will become operational and scan around the place, disguised as a common housefly. Hopefully, the FLIES will give us some information about the whereabouts of your brother." He explained as he typed the commands on the computer.

Kids Next Door: **FLIES** – (**F**antastic **L**ittle **I**ngenious **E**spionage **S**nooperajig)

The word 'scanning' appeared on the computer, and a graphical vector image of the globe emerged soon after. There was a green dot blinking in the middle and the word 'locating' was seen beneath the word 'scanning.' The green dot traverse through the world before it stopped in England. The globe then zoomed in to a bird's eye view level, showing a hospital. It then zoomed in further, and this time through the FLIES' point of view, showing a person lying on a bed with a gloomy, sad look on his face.

"That's… that's my brother! He's okay!"

---

The assembly at the school hall was a bit strange for the middle schoolers there. It wasn't called by the principal or any of the school staffs, but by some kid who was neither popular nor disliked. He was just an average kid. To most of them, he was just another face in school. As they took their seats, rumors began to float as to why the assembly was called. Some said that this person just wanted attention and wanted to become popular. Some said the school is going to be torn down and an amusement park is going to be built on its spot. And some said they just wanted to skip class.

Just then a spotlight was pointed to the middle of the stage to a podium. The whole hall fell into silence. Then someone walked out from behind the curtain to the podium. People were at first shocked upon seeing him, then it turned into laughter, and jeers and hollers were thrown to the kid.

"Pervert!"

"Chump!"

"Freak!"

"Lookin' good honey!"

It was Numbuh 999's brother, wearing a BRA. He had expected to this kind of response, and grinned to himself. He clenched his two fists tight, and the Battle Ready Armor was activated. It shone under the spotlight, looking very polished and sexy. The middle schoolers fell in silence in utter surprise, except for one.

"Haha!" that guy laughed as he pointed at Numbuh 999's brother. "You're wearing a bra!" But his laughter was stopped short when a laser gun emerged out from the BRA's wrist and fired a beam at the kid, leaving him charred and his hair burned. "I'll be quiet now…" he spoke softly to himself in a low voice, and fell over. The crowd was even more amazed at the display, and finally they all lifted their hands to ask Numbuh 999's brother some questions. This nobody suddenly became the center of attention all of the sudden.

"Chill out, dudes and dudettes. I know all of you are on cloud 9 right now, but just cool it, cats. I'm getting to it." Numbuh 999's said to the crowd, applying hair gel on his, well, hair, combing it. He really looked like The Fonz now. "Who here has a younger brother or a sister?" he asked, and more than 2/3rds of the crowd lifted their hands. He nodded, "Ever feel like they've been acting a bit strange lately? I dunno, like, standing up for themselves?"

"Yeah!" one guy got up and said loudly at him, "he fights me back whenever I tried to take his lunch money!"

"My sister won't do my laundry!" a girl shouted.

"The little brat karate'd me when I tried to give him a wedgie!"

"I can't believe you guys!" one dork-ish guy stood up, "Me and I brother get along very well! I took him to the ice-cream shop, burger joints, fishing—"

"DOORKK!" somebody screamed and pointed a finger at him. And everyone pelted him with garbage and rained profanities to him. Numbuh 999's brother smiled widely. They were all, more or less, in the same shoes with him.

"All right, all right! Chill!" he said, flailing his arms up high to ask the crowd to calm down. "Dude!" he called for one of his buddies, "take that dumb kid sympathizer and throw him outta the hall!" his friend nodded. He activated The Battle Ready Armor he was wearing, flew to that kid sympathizer and threw him out of the hall through the skylight. The crowd was cheering wildly.

"Okay, okay!" Numbuh 999's brother called for the crowd again. "You have seen how the BRA has performed, and I expect all you guys will _love_ at what I'm offering to all of you. I don't want to be one of the cool cats in the school or doing this just for attention, I'm doing this because the pecking order of us teenagers is under threat." There were murmurs of agreement amongst the crowd. "Our little brothers and sisters are revolting against us because they have seen hope. We used to supervise them when Father was in power, but everything changed when this one kid defeated him, managed to open their eyes and led them to salvation. We now go to school, just like them. Adults will scold us if we bullied them. And worst of all, we don't have kids to push around anymore, because they _won_. And where do they get those ridiculous ideas? THERE." He pointed towards the Sector V tree house, and everyone looked.

"They called themselves the Kids Next Door, and just like the namesake, they're literally next door to us. They live amongst us. That is why our 'sweet' little brothers and sisters are acting like jerks because they think they can fight against us. But no more! If you think the Battle Ready Armor was cool, wait until you see what we did with our bike! Those kids are cruisin' for a bruisin' and these bikes will help us fight the little twerps and remind them where their place is!" He wasn't much of a speaker, but it managed to get the crowd all wild.

---

"Come in Numbuh 0!" A voice in the loudspeaker was heard. It was Numbuh 20. "We spotted three adult aircrafts in Arctic Base fly zone! We can't make our own aircrafts to turn around anymore! This is too much! We lose valuable resources and time if we keep this up! And it'd be even worse if they find out we're here! You need to think up something!"

Numbuh 0 was piloting his own personal 2x4 aircraft to escort the kid to the hospital where his brother was being treated. He contemplated silently. He knew it was too soon, but he had to do it. If the main KND base remains in the Arctic Base, they would be compromised. He had to take drastic action. It was a difficult decision, but he had to do it, regardless of the danger.

"Numbuh 20. Call all the scientists and tell them this is a direct order from the Soopreme Leader himself. If I remember correctly the book of KND also teaches us to make an aircraft capable of leaving earth. We're expanding. Our next destination is the moon where it's safer. Ask them to build it. You will help them too, since you're my most trusted pilot and aerospace engineer. I believe in you. I will personally lead the mission to find the so-called Moonbase when the task is complete. Over and out."

Numbuh 20 was stunned at the very ambitious and suicidal order, and wanted to question it. But realizing at how far Numbuh 0 brought them so far, it'd be wise to follow orders since he knew what to do. After a long moment of pause, she replied to the Soopreme Leader, "I copy that… and I sure hope you're not as insane as I think you are." The last word was delivered in a teasing, joking voice, taking a jab at Numbuh 0's mad ambition. But he shrugged it off just as a playful banter, and just smiled at himself. The communication was then cut.

The kid was disbelief, and shook his head, "You're mad." He said, "It's impossible. Even the adults haven't done such a task before."

"I think it can be done, buddy." Numbuh 0 said as he descended the aircraft, "If we can go this far, the sky is no longer the limit to us kids. Literally. I mean, take a look at this aircraft. It even performs better than any of the junk that the adults made."

"True… and to be honest, I am excited."

"To see your brother?" Numbuh 0 asked.

"Well… that, and regarding the Kids Next Door. It's fascinating. Extremely interesting. I find it difficult to believe that kids around the globe are unanimous in their goals and willing to work together to reach for it. Numbuh 0, you have done something that even the adults are struggling to do. You are a great leader."

Numbuh 0 received the compliment humbly. "No, if it wasn't for all of your help, the KND wouldn't be as great as it is now. We all work together to make it great."

"And such modesty." The kid smiled. "You are truly one of a kind. Never have I seen a kid so devoted to their work, and have accomplished so many in such short period of time."

"You… sound a bit wordy to me." Numbuh 0 chuckled. "Where'd you get all these fancy words?"

"My brother is an orator, and is studying to be a diplomat. Some of his traits are rubbing on me, I guess." He let out a chortle.

"We could use another diplomat." Numbuh 0 nodded. At this point the aircraft was nearing the hospital. "So what say you?"

"I have made my mind." He nodded. "I will do whatever means necessary to help you and kids around the world against adult tyranny." The aircraft touched down on the hospital's roof usually reserved for emergency helicopters. The kid then got up from his seat. "Thank you for flying me here."

"You need an operative Numbuh if you wanna join us. Have you given it a thought?" Numbuh 0 asked.

"Yes, I have. I see the Kids Next Door gives me vast amount of opportunity that is almost endless. I like that notion. Therefore, I shall refer to myself as Numbuh Infinity." And Numbuh Infinity hopped out of the vehicle.

* * *

You're probably thinking, why is Numbuh Infinity here? He's still a kid in TREATY! Well, that's the beauty of it! I want to have a lot of plot twists to keep the story interesting! Sorry for the long chapter though. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the fic and please leave a review!


	11. Operation: LUNA

Author's Note: Whoo, another update. Finally got some time to write this stuff up.

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**Legal junk: I don't own Codename:Kids Next Door, but Cartoon Network does and Mr. Warburton created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Operation: **LUNA** (**L**and **U**nder **N**ew **A**dministration)

"_Numbuh 0 is getting insane. What's the point of moving there? I thought the Arctic base was good enough for all of us." – __**Boss **__(Numbuh 8055)_

_Seventh Age_

"Wow, you guys work faster than I thought." Numbuh 0 said, impressed by the hard work that his science team showed him. The spacecraft being built by the science team was a modified SCRAMPER with additional rocket boosters and extra cladding to keep its passengers safe from the inhospitable space environment. Salvage of additional parts was courtesy of Numbuh 8055 obviously and the science behind the rocket was headed by Numbuh 20 and 0110 respectively. The modified SCRAMPER was christened as SCRAMDEE and is being built in one of the laboratories in the Arctic Base.

Kids Next Door: **SCRAMDEE** – (**S**uper **C**ool **R**ocket **A**lways **M**ust **D**epart **E**arth **E**ffectively)

"More acronyms." Numbuh 0 sighed, amused. "If it wasn't for tradition I'd stop naming our stuff like that."

"Just be thankful we have thesauruses for that purpose alone." Numbuh 0110 said as he head poked out of the engine. "Hey, where's that friend of yours? And what's his story?"

"Who, Numbuh Infinity? I dropped him at a hospital somewhere in London to meet his big brother. He'll call back as soon as he done visiting him."

"_Numbuh_ Infinity? He's an operative now?" Numbuh 0110 asked, perplexed.

"Technically… not yet, Chester. He's still unofficial. But he has given me his word that he's going to join us." Numbuh 0 replied back. "Anyway, he told me that he and his brother are all is left of his family since their parents were gone many years ago. Good thing is, his brother is old enough to be the breadwinner and the caretaker of the house so he doesn't need to go to an orphanage and stuff. His brother is the only person he can depend on."

"That's a relief." Chester replied, making final checks on the engine, "So that's why he was so eager to meet his brother again."

"You have to hand it to his big brother though. He has to hold four jobs at the same time, study for college, and take care of his little brother all at once. If that's not dedication then I don't know what is. He's truly one of the good adults that we can trust to."

"Hey, as long as he doesn't force us to do homework I'm cool with him." Numbuh 0110 replied, and he and Numbuh 0 shared an awkward laugh together. "We're almost done here." Numbuh 0110 replied as he got out from the engine compartment. As he made his way to a rag to clean himself from the filth on his face, he asked Numbuh 0 this, "Who are you going to take with you to the moon?"

"I've got a pool of kids that I can think of. Firstly, you obviously since you might fill me in on the 2x4 technology that we may discover while we're there."

"I was afraid you might say that." Numbuh 0110 replied sarcastically.

"Betty; since she's the rocket pilot and if anything goes wrong while we're on our way, she'll know how to deal with it. Hmm, who else?" Monty pondered as he folded his arms, tapping his feet. "That big Russian kid Moosk; because… uh, if there were aliens out there, he'd be a great help."

"Heh," Chester chuckled, "I doubt aliens exist. And this comes from a huge science nerd like me!"

Monty continued on, "And Numbuh 999 for navigation. That's about it. Much less than the team I assembled when we were looking for the Arctic Base."

"Why less?" Chester asked, starting to get worried, "It's an inhospitable environment out there, on the moon. We need all the help we can get."

"While I certainly agree with you that we need to be cautious Chester, I do believe we have more than enough kids for the mission. Besides, we've gained a lot of experience ever since from our little expedition to the Arctic. I think a trip to the moon is something that we can handle."

"I still think it isn't a good idea Monty, but I won't argue with you. You got us this far, and every decision that you made has taken us to the right direction. I just hope that I'm not gullible and easily blinded by your ambitions." Chester's words struck deeply inside Monty's consciousness. Would he really risk his friends just to see his plans bear fruit? "But… for all it's worth, at least I get to go to the moon, right?" the light hearted banter eased their guilt at least a little bit.

---

"Take a look at that." Betty said proudly to the moon mission team. The team was standing in front of the SCRAMDEE, looking at it. "Isn't she a beauty?" she smiled widely at her creation. Her team mates on the other hand, were skeptical.

"Is it… safe?" Moosk asked nervously. "Will it take us to the moon without making casualty out of us?"

"If it makes you any better: we conducted a lot tests, checked and triple checked, and I personally test piloted it myself. It's not going to crash and burn." Betty replied, with a wide smile on her face.

"I wish you didn't say that last sentence, Numbuh 20." Numbuh 999 replied uneasily.

"Hey, there's a negation in my last sentence." Betty retorted back. "It's not like I _want it_ to crash and burn."

"Okay… just stop it! Now you're just freaking me out… and enjoying it…" she squealed nervously.

"Worth every moment, Numbuh 999." Betty smiled a satisfied, teasing smile at her.

"All you two, enough." Numbuh 0 intervened, and the banter between the two girls ceased. "Get to your stations everyone; I want this mission to go without a hitch. I want to go to the moon by the end of the day. Let's move out troops!"

---

After an unexciting journey through the earth atmosphere and into outer space, the operatives were now on their way to the moon. They had high hopes that the ride would be just as thrilling as the ones the adults clamoring about a couple years ago. It was an eventful moment for the young cosmonaut but unbeknownst to him, kids were the first to be in space. It too was a shocker for the KND scientists that a hundred year old spaceship technology would still be practical as it was when it was invented many years ago. The SCRAMDEE traveled gently through space, and from the operative's view, the moon was ever closer to them every second, and everyone walked away from their consoles to the front windshield just to admire the scenery.

"I can't believe it…" Chester said in disbelief, "the moon… right in front of us."

"Looks very barren." Numbuh 999 replied; feeling a bit disappointed upon her first impression. "I cannot believe that this place gives inspiration for people to write beautiful poems and stories on. It's just a dumb piece of rock!"

"You think you're disappointed?" Betty cut in, "I was expecting a roller coaster ride when we were lifting off from earth! Instead, it's just a smooth sailing from ground to space! How boring is that?" She grumbled, while trying to concentrate on her flying.

"Looks to Moosk that this place has no spaceman for me to pummel." Moosk said, while his eyes scanned every acre of the moon's surface.

Numbuh 0 was ignoring the comments of his teammates and kept concentrating on finding the elusive Kids Next Door Moonbase by looking at every nook and cranny of the surface. His effort was not in vain when he finally saw a branch-like thing poking out of the horizon. "There! Right there!" he said, getting excited, pointing to the horizon, "Just go straight ahead Numbuh 20!"

"Roger that Numbuh 0! Full speed ahead!" Finally, the elusive Kids Next Door Moonbase revealed itself to the operatives. While it had the same pinkish color and some manmade structure dotted inside it, the Moonbase was significantly smaller than the ones in the show. The best way to describe the size is to say that it is about a three quarter smaller. A small opening nestled in between a huge tree branch and a ship's hull, and Numbuh 0 ordered his pilot to go into it. With any luck, the small opening is the way to the Moonbase's hangar.

---

The SCRAMDEE landed roughly on one of the many docks in the circular hangar. Inside of the vehicle's prepping room, everyone with the exception of the pilot was putting on their spacesuits while waiting to be briefed about the mission by the Soopreme Leader himself. The spacesuits themselves barely resembled an actual spacesuit. Some common items being put together were plastic fishbowls as helmets, garden hoses as life support lines, and modified hazmat suits as the suits themselves. How did Boss manage to get his hands on those things would be best unanswered.

"All right everyone, I do hope that all of you are comfortable with your new 2x4 spacesuit." Numbuh 0 said as he put on gloves on his hands. By the looks of his fellow operatives, they barely were tolerating the uncomfortable suits that were tailored by Chester. They had every right to complain about it: it's too big, too small, it smells, the color clashes, etc. "After dropping us here, Numbuh 20 will go out and fly around the Moonbase for a recon mission. She will be in constant radio contact with us. As for us, our objectives are just about the same when we first arrived at the Arctic Base. Our primary objective is finding the power plant, and we cover more ground if we split up. Keep radio contact with each other all the time and once found, we rendezvous back to the hangar. _Then_ we go find the treehouse's command center. Okay now, any questions before we start this mission?"

Moosk raised his hand. "Yes?" the Soopreme Leader replied, slightly annoyed.

"Splitting up is a bad idea, comrade. What if aliens ambush us and eat us one by one?"

"Oh, don't be ridiculous! There's no such thing as aliens! And besides, if there were aliens in this Moonbase, they'd be dead by now because of the lack of air."

"One day, you're gonna eat up your own words, Monty." Numbuh 999 teased as she put on her helmet made out of a transparent plastic bucket.

"Wow, I can't believe you actually believe aliens exist, Numbuh 999." Chester said in mild surprise.

"Considering the fact that our galaxy consists of billions of stars, it's possible that life can develop somewhere out there. As a scientist, you should take the probabilities into consideration, Numbuh 0110."

"Unless it's proven, I'll consider it as science fiction."

"All right, enough geeking around." Numbuh 0 intervened, as he opened the door and walked out into the hangar. After a brief lapse of pride and awe, he motioned his hand at his teammates inside the SCRAMDEE to say that it was safe for them to come out. One by one they cautiously stepped out of the spaceship and headed towards to Numbuh 0. After everyone got out, the door closed and Numbuh 20 blasted away to do her reconnaissance mission, leaving the four of them alone in the Moonbase.

"It certainly… feels lighter than when we're on earth." Numbuh 0 said in a mix of bewilderment and excitement. The sentiment was shared by everyone.

"The moon is smaller than Earth, so it's obvious the gravity smaller than of Earth's. That is why you feel lighter here, Numbuh 0."

"The resident nerd speaks." Numbuh 999 said playfully.

"You're the one to comment." Numbuh 0110 replied back snidely, "I'm not the one who believes aliens exist."

"All right everyone. Split up, keep radio contact at all times, and if you find anything interesting or in danger, give a shout. Kids Next Door, let's move out!"

---

"Interesting. Considering the guys who built this place lived nearly a hundred years before us." Chester said, upon touching a hardened gooey substance that shaped some parts of the moonbase's walls. In the hallway he was in, it was almost everywhere, except for the floor he was standing on. "This stuff looks almost similar to a wad of chewing gum…" but after rubbing the substance on his fingers to feel the texture, he concluded, "…which _is_ chewing gum! Why am I touching it?! GROSS!!" he then rubbed the end of his fingers to a nearby metal surface to get it off.

"That kind of explains why the treehouse is mostly pink." Betty said through the communicator. "Well, the parts that look like a tree, anyway."

"I can't believe we're actually walking inside a place made out of stuff that's been into people's mouths." Numbuh 999 said as she walked through a passageway linking to some depository, which she guessed from reading a derelict signboard she saw earlier. Then she suddenly came to a realization. "Don't those kids back then realize how GROSS this is?! EW! EWW! EWW!!" she began to spaz out, shuddering.

"Suddenly Moosk get the feeling the kids during the sixth age designed this place… you know, to keep girls away." Moosk said to them.

Numbuh 999 now looked really messy from her minor involuntary convulsion. Her hair was very messy and scraggy, her left eye twitches uncontrollably and her face looked like someone who just got out of bed. "Betty, remind me to redecorate this base so it feels like we girls give a slap on the chauvinist boys' face at that time for not letting girls join the KND." She said in a disgusted, forced and in a grumbled tone.

"You okay… Numbuh 999?" Numbuh 0 asked with concern, wondering if she already went to the deep end. "Do you need help?"

"Nah… I'm okay." She replied back, regaining her composure. She tried not to think about it again. "Hey… I found a storage facility here."

"Anything interesting?" Betty asked.

Numbuh 999 went on her heels and peeked through the porthole. "Nah. The sign says it's a Toy Depository. But it's empty inside." She replied. "Wait a minute… is that a Rainbow Monkey I'm seeing…? Nah, can't be…" she then walked away from the porthole and rubbed her forehead in an attempt to heal her headache, "Rainbow Monkeys didn't exist back then. Man, I need a rest…"

"Stand by, everyone!" Chester suddenly interjected, "I think I just found a door leading to the power plant!"

After strings of congratulatory wishes from his teammates Numbuh 0 said to him, "See if the door's unlocked and find out whether the power plant is in working condition! If it does, I'll immediately contact the Arctic Base to bring us some guinea pigs—"

"I don't think that's necessary for now, Numbuh 0." Chester replied as he read some of the markings on the console.

"Huh? Why's that?" he asked back.

"You'd be surprised how advanced these guys were compared to the adults a hundred years ago, man. They actually used popcorn energy to generate power for this treehouse! These guys were way more advanced than I thought! Man, I wish I could meet these guys!"

"Popcorn… energy?" Numbuh 0 asked back again, confused.

"Well, yeah. Non-popped popcorn is basically useless and gross to eat. But when we put them into a huge container to pop them, the explosion creates lots of heat and energy that can be harvested! It's from this method they're able to generate so much power! Who needs nuclear fission when we have something as simple as this? And the byproduct waste is always good to eat when watching movies!"

"See? _This_ is why I think aliens exist!" Numbuh 999 exclaimed to him, "Who else is advanced enough to develop these kinds of technology? You know, this might sound crazy, but I think the Kids Next Door in the Sixth age managed to contact alien kids from outer space and after some bargaining they agreed to help defeat evil adults by giving them this kind of technology!"

"You're crazy, Numbuh 999." Moosk bluntly said to her.

"As amusing as your far-fetched crazy ideas are, I think it's genuine kid ingenuity that made these kind of stuff possible." Chester said to her in a teasing tone.

Numbuh 999 then began to pout and sulk after her teammates not positively receiving her rather 'unique' theories. "You guys are _so_ closed minded…"

"And stop reading your brother's sci-fi comic books!" Betty said, adding more insult to the injury.

"Okay everyone, stop teasing her. We're on a serious mission here. Numbuh 0110, will the popcorn energy be sufficient enough to generate the power to run the Moonbase?"

"Give me a sec." Chester replied, reading an old logbook he saw conveniently lying on a table. The book was labeled 'instructions' and thankfully it was about getting the power plant to work. After flipping a few pages and scanned a few paragraphs around, he then explained to the rest of his teammates, "This logbook I found says the popcorn energy was still an experiment being developed by them, and they still depend on guinea pigs… and broccoli?" he said incredulously, "to generate electricity."

"They _used_ broccoli?!" Moosk replied in disgust, and his face began to turn green. "It is a good way to dispose the scourge for sure, but why broccoli?"

"Apparently they're a good source to generate power, but extremely dirty." Chester replied, "Kids would get sick and vomit uncontrollably if they were exposed to the fumes generated by them. That's probably why they were experimenting on popcorn energy, as a mean to phase out broccoli."

"Ugh… broccoli." Numbuh 0 shuddered, "Even the name gives me chills. Anyway, how about it? Can the power plant give us power?"

"Well…" Chester murmured, "There's a protocol that says when energy is generated, 10 percent of it will be diverted to a battery as a backup, which will store up to one week of power usage, even when the treehouse is running at full capacity. Wow, sounds pretty efficient."

"Well, can you start the power plant _now _so the treehouse will be a much hospitable place to stay?"

"Okay, okay. Sheesh." Chester grumbled. "Don't get your underwear in a bunch." He said softly to himself and began his search for the 'on' button. Within minutes he found the power lever which positioned at the 'off' indicator. "Ladies and gentlemen, let it there be light!"

And with a simple push of a lever, all the lamps and lights began to flicker in and out and eventually shine brightly. All the ancient computers, gadgets and gizmos began to operate. Live support systems were activated, and they could finally remove their helmets. And gravity was reset to simulate that of Earth's. They were in awe. The whole place looked a lot like what they imagined Santa's workshop would be like. It was so colorful, so bright, so filled with whimsical machinery and the only thing absent were the elves. But in the midst of things, an ordinary satellite dish on top of the treehouse rotated slowly away from Earth and pointed itself into deep space. Betty noticed it, thinking what was that all about and proceeded closer to inspect it. The satellite dish stopped rotating and a red light was seen beeping faintly. Betty shrugged it away, thinking it was nothing. "Numbuh 0, the Moonbase is operational once more. Congratulations. Permission to land?"

"Uh… yeah… permission granted." Numbuh 0 said blankly. He was focusing more on his discovery than giving Numbuh 20 an attentive order.

"Well I guess I won't need this anymore." Chester shrugged and tossed his flashlight away. "Mission accomplished, and back to the hangar."

"Uhh… about that, Numbuh 0110, everyone." Numbuh 0 said as if he was keeping his discovery away from his teammates. "Just proceed to find the command center. It would be… pointless if we go back and regroup only to split up again to find it. It's a waste of time."

"Good point." Chester replied, while the others nodded and agreed.

"Wait… I found it." Moosk said. "I cannot believe it; it is right under my nose the whole time. It was so dark back then I didn't notice I was in the command center room the whole time! BWAHAHAHA!"

"Good job, Moosey!" Numbuh 999 exclaimed giddily.

"I'm giving you my coordinates to my location. Come quickly, fellow comrades!"

"Yeah… you guys go ahead." Numbuh 0 said to them, "I think I wonder out too far away and it's gonna take a while before I reach where you are Moosk." And what a great cover story that was, and everyone believed him. The reason for the lie was because he stumbled upon something: a book that said, 'for the eyes of every Soopreme Leader of the Kids Next Door – Past, present, and future. It was placed underneath a very important looking table made out of mahogany. The room he was in itself looked like something like Soopreme Leader would fit in. He decided not to tell his teammates about his discovery.

"Uh… yeah. No worries comrade, take your time." Moosk replied, noticing a large book sandwiched in between even larger books on a bookshelf next to him. "I ask for the rest to be quick… come here now, right now." He said, and his tone suggested that it was urgent. He founded a book called, 'Never ever never ever never ever let the Soopreme Leader know this book exists.' The smaller font underneath it said, 'For the Heads of Science, Military and Diplomacy branch only.'

* * *

I can't believe I just explained the science behind 2x4 technology. The popcorn power is an allegory to nuclear power while broccoli is analogous to coal power. And all the mention of aliens and stuff is a foreshadowing, in case you haven't catch it yet. Well, thanks for reading and reviews are appreciated!


	12. Operation: HISTORY

Author's Note: Miss me? :) Another chapter for you.

* * *

**Legal junk: I don't own Codename:Kids Next Door, but Cartoon Network does and Mr. Warburton created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Operation: **H.I.S.T.O.R.Y **(**H**istorically **I**mportant **S**ecretive **T**ales **O**f **R**espected **Y**oungsters)

"I think they're keeping secrets from us." – _Soopreme Leaders of the Kids Next Door of the past._

"We think they're keeping secrets from us." – _Kids Next Door's Heads of Science, Military and Diplomacy Department of the past_

Numbuh 0 held the dusty old book firmly in his hands. He gazed at it in disbelief. The thick red colored book cover was adorned with a rough calligraphic roman alphabet spelling out the title. And what luck for Numbuh 0, it was written in English. Still, he couldn't believe such a book exists. Why must it not be disclosed to the other operatives? Wasn't trust was one of the core principles of the Kids Next Door? Why such secrecy?

After much contemplation, he opened the book. Dust clouds escaped from the worn out pages, making Numbuh 0 cough and he tried fanning the dust away. He then carefully turned the pages over slowly one by one. The third page caught his eye. He recognized the English word, 'Foreword,' followed by likely the translation of the word in other languages, such as Spanish, Portuguese, French, Arabic, Italian, Mandarin, Japanese, Indonesian, Tamil, etc. He turned the page over, and the foreword was written in English and a footnote on a small piece of paper was wedged inside it. The footnote reads:

"_As English becomes an increasingly popular language, with much thanks to The Queen, The Kids Next Door Council of Standards, which members consists of various cultures have decree English henceforth shall be the official language of the organization. Members and operatives are free to speak with their own mother tongue, but it is strongly advisable to use English as the lingua franca for official matters."_

Numbuh 0 raised his eyebrows and nodded, interested in what he was reading.

"_That is why, I Numbuh 1600, took the liberty to translate almost every single content of this book into English so the future generation of Soopreme Leaders will easily comprehend the contents. Kids Next Door rule!"_

Then he moved to the actual foreword of the book:

_Salutations,_

_If you are reading this, then congratulations: you are the Soopreme Leader of the Kids Next Door, the kid who is responsible to give the final say to any sort of decision making in order to preserve the integrity of this organization. You are the absolute highest ranking operative of this organization, and with great power, comes great responsibility. _

_First of all, let me introduce you to myself: I am Numbuh Absolute Infinity, the first Soopreme Leader of the Kids Next Door, and a resident of the mighty Mesopotamian Empire. By now you're asking: are you the one who started the KND? No. I leave that for you to discover who introduces me to the KND on your own. I'm writing this to codify the certain regulations that all of you future Soopreme Leaders must follow. Future Soopreme Leaders are allowed to add constructive and conducive rulings to suit future KND culture._

Numbuh 0 paused for a while to catch a breather. He was standing on edge all the time when he was reading the book, so he searched for a place to grab a seat. "Hmm, I wonder what the others are doing right now?" he pondered.

---

"Hey fellas, I came here as fast as I can. What's up?" Numbuh 20 said as she quietly locked the door to the Command Center Chamber. She earlier had been mistaken by the rest of the operatives as Numbuh 0, which really scared them up for a brief moment.

"Door's locked, Betty? Okay. What we're going telling you is totally above top secret and you should never tell this to anyone else, especially Numbuh 0!" Numbuh 0110 said cautiously to her, being worried that he might eavesdrop on them.

"I still think we should tell Monty about this book, Chester." Numbuh 999 interjected, totally displeased by the behavior of her friends.

"Are you crazy?!" Chester retorted back, "The books says it in bright bold red: Never ever never ever never ever _let_ the Soopreme Leader know this book exists! And we're the only ones can read it!"

"I don't know guys…" Numbuh 999 replied, getting increasingly frustrated, "This is not right. We're keeping secrets from him… I mean, we supposed to report everything that we know—"

"With the _exception_ of this book." Moosk emphasized by pointing and tapping his finger on the book repeatedly. "Trust me; he's better off not knowing this book ever existed. There are some things that should be tucked away, comrade…" he said grimly to Numbuh 999, to highlight the seriousness of the discovery.

"Well… what is the book all about?" Betty asked, getting ever confused by the turn of events.

"This book," Chester snatched the book from Moosk's hand and showed it to Betty. "is about to tell us things that Soopreme Leader, i.e., Numbuh 0, aka Monty Uno shouldn't know. Of course, we're very excited the kind of things it will reveal to us."

"You're kidding me." She replied, unconvinced. "The Soopreme Leader has the right to know about everything there is to know about the Kids Next Door. Think about it: how can he operate the KND if we keep secrets away for him?"

"THANK YOU!" Numbuh 999 said loudly in relief, "Finally someone else in this room has some common sense!"

"There must be a reason that the guys who wrote this book won't let the Soopreme Leader read it!" Chester said back.

"Mutiny." Betty mouthed, after given it many thoughts about it as her friends bicker. The others looked at her in disbelief.

"Ridiculous!" Moosk protested, "The book was passed down from one generation to the other, And it has now passed on to us so we can continue its legacy! If it was about mutiny instructions then there wouldn't be a Soopreme Leader in every generation!"

"Who are you to talk?" Numbuh 999 argued back. "You're not the head of Science, Military or Diplomacy! None of us are!"

"Technically I am the head of Science, Numbuh 999." Chester said, "Numbuh 0 entrusted me to oversee everything there is about the technological advancement of the KND. So that makes me qualified to read the book."

"Me too." Moosk interjected. "I am leader of Sector Z. And Numbuh 0 said that my sector is usually reserved for the best of combat operatives. That makes me more or less allowed to read the book."

Numbuh 999 shook her head weakly in disbelief, "I can't believe you guys. He's given you guys the opportunity to join the KND and this is how you repay him? By jeopardizing the trust he's given to you? This is an act of treason." She said gravely, and judging by her tone, she wasn't kidding around. "At least Numbuh 20 is with me. C'mon Betty, let's tell Numbuh 0 about this."

"Actually…" Numbuh 20 replied nervously, tapping the tips of her fingers together, "Heheh, I'm kinda curious as well."

"WHAT?!"

"C'mon Numbuh 999," Chester said, "Do you seriously think we're gonna betray Monty? He's just as a good friend with me as you are with him. And besides, how would you know this book is all about mutiny plans against the Soopreme Leader? For all we know, it might be a plan to do a surprise birthday party for the Soopreme Leader."

Numbuh 999 gazed back at her friends. Her feelings are mixed at this point. Should she went along and caved in, or be a good KND operative and not reading it along with her friends? The offer was very tempting, and Chester made a good argument about the book. It could be damaging and likely to develop infighting amongst them. Or it could be nothing at all.

"The offer still stands, Numbuh 999." Numbuh 20 said. "Either you're in, or you're not."

---

_Therefore, establishing a covert Teen Operative is an utmost importance for you and for the Kids Next Door. Generally, teenagers are too stupid to notice a mole walks amongst them and they almost never cast suspicion on them, leading to getting valuable information regarding teenage activities is almost like stealing candy from a baby. But, be careful when choosing your Teen Operatives, one wrong choice and you will have another problem to worry about. Appointing a Teen Operative must also be kept secret from all Kids Next Door operatives, as they will see you as an act of fraternizing with the enemy._

"Wow…" Monty said in disbelief upon reading the last sentence. "Who would've thought that teenagers are allowed in the KND?" He then continued reading the book.

_This is Numbuh Three Kingdoms, the first Soopreme Leader of the Third Age. If I may add some additional notes to the appointment of Teen Operatives: My research concluded that the demise of the KND of the Second Age was due to a betrayal of one Teen Operative. Apparently he managed to rally the rest of the Teen Operatives to bring down the Second KND age to its knees. The operatives were too outnumbered by the sheer size of the Teen Operatives that the attack was swift and the KND Headquarters was turned inside out. I would like to propose to myself and future Soopreme Leaders to limit the number of teen operatives to less than five. By limiting their numbers we can keep them in check and any act of treason can be dealt with easily._

"All right. Less than five. Got it." He then flipped a few pages over before stopping at particular one that caught his eye.

_Following the destruction of the Forth Age due to a disgruntled sector, all Kids Next Door operatives from now on will be subjected to a decommissioning process in which all knowledge about the Kids Next Door will be wiped out from their memory upon reaching the age of thirteen to go in line with the old Kids Next Door rule that operatives' service with the organization ends when they turned thirteen. This version of decommissioning is in many ways different than the older ones. Few exceptions are permitted if the operatives are outstanding enough to become teen operatives. I, Numbuh 612, the fifth Soopreme Leader of the Fifth Age have implemented this ruling to the organization after contemplating about it so many times over. Unfortunately, I received overwhelmingly negative reaction from my fellow operatives. _

_Don't they understand that is the only way that to deal with traitorous swine? Don't they realize once they are thirteen, they have reached the age where they have become a _teenager_, as the number thir__**teen**__ suggest? I know there are forces that want me to be removed but I will stand by my decision to implement this controversial protocol. I know that they will just have to accept it and move along. I know I will accept my fate when I turn thirteen. It's either you're in, or you're old. _

"Decommissioning?" Numbuh 0 read in dread, "The Book of KND never said about a decommissioning before."

_As a safe proof, the schematics for the Decommissioning Chamber are drawn on the very last page of this book. The knowledge to construct the decommissioning chamber must be kept secret by you and your Decommission Officer only and nobody else. This is to ensure the greater good of the Kids Next Door._

"Decommissioning…" Numbuh 0 spoke in disbelief. "This… this is the most outrageous thing I've ever heard. We are to deny an operative's sweat and tears and years of wonderful memory serving the Kids Next Door? The past Soopreme Leaders may agree with this, but I won't. I'm not going to wipe my operatives' memory just because they turned thirteen." Little that he knew that he sounded very naïve. He continued reading the book, stopping at some important parts and skim through the trivial ones.

_I am Numbuh 185, I am writing this on the final phase of the decline of the Sixth Age of the Kids Next Door. I'm saying this because the whole structure has gone disarray, my troops are too cowardly to fight back, the scientist are fleeing away, all operatives are complete imbeciles, the few with common sense are powerless, and every Head of this blasted organization are too stupid to stop fighting with one another. Consider is as a final entry from the final Soopreme Leader of the Sixth Age._

_This might not be a ruling, but I feel I should share with the future generations of KND's Soopreme Leaders. If the organization is lucky enough to be resurrected again as they had in the past, that is. In between rumors of people are conspiring to bring me down as a Soopreme Leader, I heard rumors that the heads of Science and Military are contacting outsiders to discuss the organization's internal problem. And they aren't just any outsiders: they come from the heavens, from another planet. It sounded just like a H.G Wells book. Am I just hearing things, or getting paranoid? Regardless, I'm not asking future Soopreme Leaders to embark on a wild goose chase, but rather, a thorough investigation about it. Sherlock Holmes' disciple you are if you managed to figure it out. Really, after reading some of the entries of previous Soopreme Leaders, please don't completely trust your operatives. Cheers, and good luck to all of us and to this organization._

"You're paranoid." Numbuh 0 said nervously, replying as if Numbuh 185 was having a conversation with him. "Spaceman? Aliens from another planet? Numbuh 999 would love to meet this guy." He amused himself. He then decided to take a break and read the more trivial entries that he skipped.

_There is a Secret Soopreme Leader bathroom created just for us. To get there, you need to follow these directions._

---

_These beings from the outer worlds are very strange looking. Some of them look like us, yet differ. Some of them are pleasant to look at, while others are too frightening to describe. Yet they, like us, band together to reach a common goal. And that is where it all matters. Over the millenniuhs they steadily supply us with technology and knowledge to battle evil adults and they are hopeful that someday, we will join their ranks. _

_In return for their co-operation, they asked us not to tell the Soopreme Leader about their existence, at least not until the Soopreme Leader is slated for retirement. They say it's for the good of the organization, the Heads, and the Soopreme Leader. Many Soopreme Leaders when told about the secret expressed shock and disbelief, calling us names and generally mocking us for making up make believe stories. But after seeing them for themselves, they still expressed shock and disbelief, calling us names and generally mocking us for not telling the truth about them earlier. This kind of secrecy has alluded almost all Soopreme Leaders, and we hope future Heads will continue this legacy of not telling the Soopreme Leader, until time permits. More of the beings and other related secrecies are explained in greater details in a secret location designated by the department of military, science and diplomat. Check inside a secret compartment underneath each Head of department's table. Share only when necessary._

_Again, we the Heads of Military, Science and Diplomats ask all present and future Heads to employ only the __**most trustful**__ of security, army, scientists, espionage, and diplomatic operatives when it comes to deal with these beings. Pick the most secretive location that you can find. And most importantly: don't let ANYONE, ESPECIALLY THE SOOPREME LEADER know about it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_

_Additional note: Some of the blokes are making an assumption that the Soopreme Leader throughout the ages are in cahoots with a group of teenagers acting as a mole to infiltrate teenage groups, adults _and_ us. We cannot confirm or deny this, but keep the suspicions within ourselves. We cannot let the cycle of distrust and doubts go around between us and the Soopreme Leader, as it will destabilize the organization. Remember: KND first, us second._

"I knew this book is asking us to do something wrong!" Numbuh 999 said loudly, angered by the revelation. "What's even worse, this book is accusing the Soopreme Leader of conspiring with the Teenagers! How low can you get!?"

"I have to admit," Moosk said, "after reading this book I will never look at Comrade Monty the same way again."

"Yeah, it's creating a faction between us and him. And that is bad." Betty agreed. "We shouldn't take this book seriously, guys. It could've been written by some disgruntled operative hundred years ago."

"Read between the lines, Numbuh 999!" Chester interjected, "They're only _suspicious_ of the Soopreme Leader! It hasn't even been confirmed! It's probably not even real! _And_ they even urge that we put the KND first above all else!"

"But what if it is true, comrade?" Moosk asked, "Have we been played as fools and there's someone watching every action we're taking?"

"It can't be true! It's stupid to even think about it!" Numbuh 999 yelled, cursing herself for letting herself to go along reading that demented book as she paced around throwing her fists in the air. She then stopped pacing and turned around to face her friends. "This book is full of lies and every one of us will not speak about this book ever again!" she pointed to the book Chester was holding on. "Give me that book, Numbuh 0110. I'm going to throw this into space where it belongs so none of us can read it ever again!"

But Chester was too reluctant to part with that book. His hands were tightly grasping the book, hesitant of giving it to Numbuh 999. He stared back at her in defiance. He kept the book closely to his heart, hugging it.

"Are you being serious?! That's it; I'm calling Monty right now and telling him about this book!" Numbuh 999 finally snapped, and reached for her communicator. "Numbuh 0 come in—"

"NOO!" Betty screamed and jumped on Numbuh 999, pinning her down on the ground. The boys tried to separate the girls away and succeeded. They dragged the girls away by locking their hands around their shoulders and pulled them away. "You listen to me Numbuh 999, or should I call you by your _real_ name?"

"Say my name and you're _dead_, Betty!" Numbuh 999 replied angrily back, trying to wrestle away from Chester.

"Listen!" Betty said through her clenched teeth. "That book doesn't prove anything yet! Do you _see_ any teenagers around us? And it certainly doesn't say your _boyfriend_ is guilty of cooperating with teenagers!"

"He's… NOT… MY—"

"I'm not done yet! I can't believe you're taking that book seriously! Is it because they mention beings from another world, since you're one of those nuts who believe in aliens? Okay, for this once, assume everything on that book is real: The reason there are secrets to be kept away from Monty is because the boss doesn't need to know everything there is to about the KND. What if he knew about these top secret stuff, and somehow our enemies knew about it? They'll be going for Monty first!"

Numbuh 999 was stunned by the comeback, but nevertheless persistent to defend her thoughts about it, "That's stupid! YOU'RE STUPID! We've got thousands of operatives that got his back. Any attempt to kidnap or attack the Soopreme Leader is foolish and you know it!"

"And _we're_ one of the thousands of operatives that got his back!" Betty snapped back. "Don't you get it? By keeping this secret we're more or less keeping him safe from our enemies! They're not coming for him, they're coming for us!"

Logic finally sank a bit into Numbuh 999's head, "But what about us, then? Shouldn't we be worried that our enemies could be targeting us for the secrets?"

"See, that is the brilliance of the secret, it's divided into three different groups: the military, science and diplomats. They couldn't possibly take us all at the same time. It's impossible. It's foolproof." Bettyy explained it as simple as possible, in hoping that the information will get through Numbuh 999's thick skull. The tense situation was starting to calm down, and boys began to loosen up their grasp on the girls. But, despite of it all, Numbuh 999 was still relentless. She was still doubtful and reluctant to follow with her friends along. She gazed at Betty angrily.

"You know, I've been thinking:" Betty continued, and her tone sounded really devious. "Why isn't Monty here yet?"

"What the heck you're talking about?" Numbuh 999 replied bitterly, "H-He's on his way here. He just has a lot of trekking to do."

"Wrong. He's just two storeys underneath us."

"What?" Moosk said, shocked.

"What are you off your rocker or something Numbuh 20?" Chester said in disbelief.

"You're lying." Numbuh 999 said bitterly.

"Here." Betty threw at her a small PDA type device. "That thing shows the location of all us on the Moonbase. When I was on my way here, I used that tracker, and I headed to Numbuh 0 first. He was in a room, but the door was opened slightly because it was broken. I peeked through and saw him reading a book."

"What book?" Numbuh 999 asked, and passed the tracker device to Chester.

"I don't know much, but it's something about Soopreme Leader and stuff. I didn't hear anything else because I getting here was the top priority. Now I wish I should've stayed back. He's probably still reading that book."

"But according to thing tracker doohickey, he's about to—"

Suddenly there was a knock on a door. "Guys, are you there?" It was Numbuh 0's voice.

"Not a word from any of you, _especially_ you, Numbuh 999." Moosk warned them all. Chester hid the book in somewhere safe, and Betty went closer to Numbuh 999, in case she started to act irregularly. The door opened up, and Numbuh 0 stood there, looking at them with a somewhat confused look.

"Geez, you guys look like you been into a fight or something. Everything okay?"

"Everything's fine, Numbuh 0. Heh heh." Chester replied nervously. That gesture didn't score points for Moosk, Betty and Numbuh 999 because it sounded really fake.

"Ooooookay…" Numbuh 0 replied, perplexed. "Contact the Moonbase. We're moving the headquarters here immediately. I need all of you to give a hand." Everybody saluted the Soopreme Leader. In spite of it, Numbuh 0 began to feel wary of his own fellow operatives. He had listened to the end bits of conversation between Numbuh 999 and Betty. The shouts they made could be heard from mile away. He guessed that nothing really mattered when they were at each other's throats, which was good for him.

This was not a good thing for the both of them. With each party holding their own secrets to themselves, things could go bad, and history might repeat itself.

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I know this is a lengthy chapter, but I promise the next one would be more exciting, and lesser words. Thanks for reading, and reviews are greatly appreciated.

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	13. Operation: CONTACT

_Author's Note: _This chapter was written waaaaaaaaayyy before Chapter seven is completed. I just got excited about the some of the revelations in Operation INTERVIEWS that I had to write this one first before I forgot about it. Finally I bridged the continuity!  


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**Legal junk: I don't own Codename: Kids Next Door, but Cartoon Network does and Mr. Warburton created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Operation: **C.O.N.T.A.C.T** (**C**razy **O**ccurrence – **N**on-**T**errestrial **A**dolescents **C**ontacted **T**oday)

"_Don't you get it yet? You've been chosen to join the Galactic Kids Next Door! Only one kid from every planet is picked, and you're it!" Numbuh 74.239 (Seventh Age)_

_Two weeks later…_

His new office was as spacious as an empty classroom, yet still comfy, but at the same time a huge mess, just like his bedroom. A room fit for a Soopreme Leader of the Kids Next Door. Numbuh 0 looked around his room with glee. A lot of his trinkets, toys and knick-knacks are disorganized and all over the place, which was good since in the Moonbase nobody would ever ask him to clean it up. At the end of the room, there was his desk and his black leather chair, slightly beaten up, salvaged from a junkyard courtesy of Numbuh 8055. Behind them was a huge glass wall with the magnificent view of the earth and the sun. He wanted to be left alone to savor the moment. He slowly closed the door, locking it. It muted the noise away.

He quickly ran to the table, jumped over it and landed on the chair. He then spun around like obnoxious child he was, laughing maniacally. He did it. He managed to destroy the tyranny of his Father, restart the Kids Next Door, and unite all children in the world for a common goal. They were all a huge accomplishment for someone so young. But despite of it all, he remains humble to everyone. If someone would meet him or visit him, he will greet them politely. However, for this group of visitors, it was an otherworldly experience for him.

Monty was about to rest his eyes when all of the sudden the lights gone off, as if the power went down. He then tried to flick the light switch on his desk but it didn't work. He turned around to the window and was puzzled to see every part of the moonbase was still lit, but only his room was without power. Then, a bright light appeared from behind. The light was so intense that he had to shield his eyes away from it. After a few seconds, the light dimmed away, and the power went back on. Monty slowly opened his eyes, only to see something that he imagined only in exists in comic books right before his eyes.

"Salutations, Soopreme Overlord of the Earth Kids Next Door."

He was absolutely frightened. He quickly jumped under his desk to take cover. He was trembling in fear. He didn't know what to do until he remembered something. He reached for one of his weapons inside the drawer. Drawing some courage, he then got up and promptly shoots at… whatever it was. But somehow, there was an invisible shield deflecting his shots.

The being let out a yawn, and sigh. "This always happens upon first contact." He said in slightly warbled little boy voice. "Please, Exalted Leader, I mean you no harm!" he said in a soft, polite tone.

"YEAH RIGHT!" Monty yelled back underneath the table. "You're going to take me to your spaceship and do all sorts of experiments on me!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" the being said as he extended his arm. With the power of his mind, he lifted the table gently and placed it aside, as Monty sat crawling backwards, in disbelief at what he just saw. "I'm a Kids Next Door operative, just like you."

"What makes you think I'm going to believe you?!" Monty shouted back, as he pointed the being with his gun with his trembling hands, pressing the back of his body against the window.

"You think your planet is the only place where adult tyranny is being fought?" the being asked back. He then put one of his hands behind him, and showed Monty the Book of KND in an incomprehensible alien language, possibly a copy for his own planet. That evidence alone convinced Monty that the being is the real deal.

"So aliens do exist…" he mouthed, slowly putting his gun down.

"We prefer to be called a non-terrestrial. I am Numbuh 51, also known as Quellek." the shorter being said, flashing a smile. He was grey in color, had extremely large dark eyes with small mouth and ears, no visible nose, and wearing a green jumpsuit. He extended his four fingered hand to Monty. "And you are?"

"Monty Uno…" he said, still in disbelief, "Numbuh 0, Supreme Leader of the Kids Next Door." He shook his hand. Numbuh 51's hand felt a bit cold, bumpy, and rubbery.

"Earth Kids Next Door, you mean." Numbuh 51 grinned. "Oh, forgive me. I forgot to introduce my other two colleagues." Numbuh 0 was perplexed. Numbuh 51 then pushed some buttons on his wristwatch like device and just like previously, an intense bright light suddenly appeared and disappeared, this time bringing two other aliens: one was tall, green in color, but had female characteristics. The other looked like a male, and looked like some sort of a carnivorous dinosaur.

"We're a part of the Galactic Kids Next Door, Numbuh 0." the green alien girl said in an eloquent, soft voice. "I am Tia-Leen. My Numbuh is NCC1701."

"And I'm Numbuh H2G2. Call me Siapa if you want. We're relieved to hear the Earth sector is finally operational again." The dinosaur boy chimed in.

"The Galactic Kids Next Door… so the rumors that I read were true. You were the ones who introduced the KND to Earth thousands of years ago. You help the kids throughout the ages by supplying technology and resources and stuff. But… why weren't you guys helping us when my world was under siege by an evil adult?"

"We duly apologize. We didn't know your planet was controlled by an evil adult." Numbuh 51 replied. "In our record, your planet has been disintegrated to make way for a hyperspace bypass. It was when you pressed the Moonbase's main power button, subsequently deploying the long distance array; we were alerted to the Earth's presence."

"WHAT?!" Monty shouted in disbelief. "The Earth was controlled by an evil adult for over a decade! Prior to that, the Earth KND stopped being operational for nearly a century! All knowledge of the organization was unknown until I discovered the Book of KND inside of a treehouse nearby my house! Why didn't you guys sent a spaceship or something to check or reintroduced to us the KND? My Father's activities would've been avoided _if _somebody knew the earth was still here!" he yelled angrily at them.

"Maybe somebody tampered with the archive?" Numbuh NCC1701 said, musing.

"Inconceivable." Numbuh 51 replied. "The GKND archive is extremely impossible to be altered unless it is approved by the Scribe Council."

"Most perplexing puzzle indeed." Numbuh H2G2 replied, rubbing his chin. He then slowly turned to Numbuh 0 and said, "Rest assured Numbuh 0, we will investigate this quandary immediately. But for now, it seems our intentions have been slightly diverted from its original course. We at the Galactic Kids Next Door take utmost care of the wellbeing of our planetary sectors. I have much to say, but…" he looked at Numbuh 51, and he nodded, continuing from where Numbuh H2G2 had left off.

"We are late for our cookie break."

"WHAT?!" Monty screamed again angrily, "After all these revelations, you're expecting me to wait until you finish your break? You're not taking this seriously at all!"

"We're all kids, Numbuh 0. You of all people should know that." Numbuh NCC1701 replied calmly.

"Cookie breaks are more important than anything else." Numbuh H2G2 adds.

"We will return back as soon as our cookie break is over. In the meantime, assemble all your best scientists, diplomats and soldiers inside your office. We'll meet again in two Earth hours. And don't tell anyone except them about us yet. Don't worry." At this point, all three of them started to glow intensely bright. "We'll be in touch." He smiled once more, and vanished, leaving Numbuh 0 all alone in his room.

He stood in stunned silence. He couldn't believe his eyes. Just a moment ago, he saw actual aliens, and conversing with them. He then walked slowly over to his seat, trying to take it all in. After a while after gathering his thoughts, he let out a scream. It did calm his nerves up, and he quickly exited the room. Outside, his friends were gathering around at Numbuh 999 desk, talking to pass the time. When they saw Monty came out from his room, his pale and nervous face worried his friends.

"What's wrong Numbuh 0? You look like you just seen a ghost." Numbuh 999 said to him, as she got up and walked over to him. But he didn't answer her back. Instead, he slowly trudged over to her desk and sat on her chair. His friends were completely perplexed, as they watched him staring blankly into space.

"Get me a glass of water." He asked in a weak tone. Now they were completely dumbfounded. What sort of kid would ask for plain water? Why not root beer? Or soda? Regardless, Chester quickly ran down to his lab and took away the guinea pig's drinking canister, and gave it to Monty. After gulping down a few, and realized that it tasted horrible, he spat it out ferociously, to the disgust of his friends. "WHERE IS THIS FROM?! BLECH!!" he threw away the canister.

"Hey, you're the one who asked for water!" Chester replied back, throwing his arms up.

"Look," Monty said, wiping the excess water on his lips away, "There is something huge coming up. And I mean big. REALLY BIG. I need you guys to call Numbuh 140F6, 005, Infinity and Numbuh 2084 over to my office. Numbuh 20, 999, 0110, you're coming with me too. Be in my office in two hours. The rest of you please stay here." The orders confused his friends. "Well what are you guys waiting for? GO!" he shouted, and instantaneously everybody ran out to do as they told, while still wondering why he was acting like that.

---

"What gives, Numbuh 0?" Numbuh 2084 asked as he watches Numbuh 0 closed and locked the door to his office. "What are you doing? With the secrecy and nervousness flrgablarghwarg… aww, you know what I'm talking about."

"We're having visitors." He said to his friends. The news came as shock to them.

"Visitors? Who?" Numbuh 20 asked back.

"I can't tell right now." He replied back. "You'll just have to wait until they're here."

"Who's 'they'?" Numbuh 140F6 asked impatiently. "And when are 'they' going to be here?"

Monty gazed at the clock on the wall. "Right about… now." The room was once again, without power. Everyone except Monty didn't see that coming. They looked around the room, wanting to know what the heck's going on. Then, three bright lights appeared in the middle of the room. Everybody shielded their eyes except for Monty, since he had his shades on. These beings kept their words and punctual. The lights dimmed down, and the non-terrestrial beings appeared humbly before them all.

"Greetings, operatives of the Kids Next Door: Earth Sector. We are all humbled by your presence." Numbuh 51 said, and bowed, followed by Numbuh NCC1701 and H2G2. Then all of the sudden, the Earth operatives except for Monty and Numbuh 999 screamed in fright.

"Ha! I told you aliens exist!" Numbuh 999 rubbed it in on her friends.

---

"THE GALACTIC KIDS NEXT DOOR?!" Numbuh 140F6, 999, 0110, 2084, Infinity and 20 said loudly in disbelief in unison.

"Yeah." Monty replied, nodding, "These guys are responsible for introducing us the KND in the first place."

"Actually, our predecessors introduced the Kids Next Door to your planet millennias ago. But that's another story." Numbuh H2G2 explained to them.

"Our mission is to restore contact with you." NCC1701 said to them.

"How… how can you speak our language?" asked Numbuh 0110.

"You see this?" Numbuh 51 said, pointing to his tiny, seemingly frail 2x4 headset communicator. "This device allows us to interact with you. The device inside of my ear translates your language in to mine, whereas this mouthpiece translates my language to yours. Normally, we use a device called a TRANSLATROUT to translate languages back at the GKND headquarters, but in your case it is a bit of an exception since TRANSLATROUT only works when the listener and speaker are wearing it."

"All right, I think that's enough explanation," Numbuh H2G2 said, "Our mission is to reestablish contact with the Earth KND, and to propose an invitation to the Earth Kids Next Door."

"Invitation?" Numbuh 0 replied.

"You see Numbuh 0, your planet is now ready to be involved into the politics of every representative in Galactic Kids Next Door. Your species' technology, mindset and resolve have convinced our benefactors at the Galactic Kids Next Door that you have what it takes to join us. We, the representatives of The League of Ambassadors of the Galactic Kids Next Door proudly present to you an invitation to join us."

Everybody stood in shock with their mouths wide agape. "You mean, join the Galactic Kids Next Door as a whole?" Numbuh 140F6 asked.

"Not quite." Numbuh H2G2 said.

"You see, we only invite you to represent your planet, but not to be in the Galactic Kids Next Door itself." Numbuh 51 explained to them.

"That doesn't make sense _and_ unfair!" Numbuh Infinity protested. "How can we be invited to represent our planet but at the same time _not_ a member of the Galactic Kids Next Door?"

"Let us finish first." Numbuh NCC1701 said calmly, "Every planet with a Kids Next Door presence is not a member of the Galactic Kids Next Door. The GKND only acknowledges the presence of a planetary KND organization and give help and assistance when necessary. Us, The League of Ambassadors of GKND, is some sort of a middleman to convey the problems posed in said planet to the GKND so they can provide assistance, while at the same time exchange information and ideas to other members of the League to avoid misunderstandings among species. If help is needed, the GKND will deploy their operatives to help. Do you understand what we're trying to say to you?"

The earthlings were pretty confused at first, but after rereading the words line by line they sort of understand the catch from the League. "So what is the GKND then?" Numbuh 0110 asked. "Is it just a bureaucratic organization?"

"Heh, absolutely not! There more to the GKND than just bureaucracy." Numbuh 51 replied, "While it does serves as the headquarters of the Kids Next Door of every planet in the galaxy, the GKND does more than just running the place. After all, paperwork is an incredibly boring task."

"The GKND serves just like the Earth's Kids Next Door headquarters." Numbuh H2G2 continued, "Namely: it's just like the Moonbase we're standing right now. And if I might add, we are incredibly impressed with the technology you've implemented to build this thing. Not to offend, it's still many years behind compared to the GKND, but notable nonetheless."

"Aside from administrating the KND, the GKND give missions to the operatives. The best operatives are selected from every planet, and they work together in sectors to accomplish their missions. The GKND provides training, accommodations, and sustainability to our operatives." The non-terrestrial operatives continued on, "While your planet is worthy to join the League, but we're afraid we can't allow an operative from your planet to join the GKND."

"What?" Numbuh 0 said in mild shock, "Why?"

"Only one worthy individual from every planet is allowed to join the GKND." Numbuh NCC1701 answered.

"So far, our benefactors at the GKND have yet to see someone whose caliber is being held in such esteem from this planet… yet." Numbuh 51 added to the explanation. "But not to worry though, from what we've seen so far, I think the Soopreme Leader of the GKND will change his mind in no time."

"But there is a question that still lingers, though." Numbuh 999 said, "According to official documents, we are currently the Seventh Age of the Earth KND. Were the Sixth age a member of the League too?"

"No." Numbuh 51 replied, "During those times, their technology and mindset was still… not to offend, a bit primitive, so to speak. We came close to allow the Sixth age to join the League, but after noticing that they did not allow the member of the opposite gender, female I believe, to join the KND, is something we don't have tolerance for."

Numbuh 0 then had a flashback to one of the entries written by a Soopreme Leader of that age. He could understand why they weren't allowed to join the League.

"Pigs." Numbuh 999 chimed in, which was concurred by Numbuh 20 and 140F6.

"Now after the rebirth of the Earth KND, we see tremendous transformation. Transcontinental travel in a manner of minutes for a planet this size, impressive weapons, efficient forms of communications, an open-minded organization has more than convinced us that you are, indeed, ready."

The statement really got the Earth Operatives excited, and they began to cheer amongst themselves for the possibilities that await them. "We are grateful, Numbuh 51, NCC1701 and H2G2. So, can we tell everyone about this?"

"NO!!" the non-terrestrial operatives said back in unison. "You must not tell anyone other than your best operatives in your department about this for security reasons."

"In fact, we shouldn't have told you about this, Numbuh 0." Numbuh 51 said. "Usually, the GKND is divulged to the most trustful of all Science, Military and Diplomacy operative of a planetary Sector."

"How so?" Numbuh 0 asked.

"Security reasons." Numbuh H2G2 elaborated. "Think about it. If you were captured and held captive by your enemies, interrogated you and asked to divulge every secret that the Kids Next Door holds, the knowledge about us will be compromised." Betty, Moosk and Chester gazed at Numbuh 999 upon hearing it. They were right and she was absolutely wrong. Nevertheless, Numbuh 999 scoffed back, thinking that it was all in the past, trying to brush it away.

"So why did you introduced yourself to me then, if I was such a security risk to you and to the organization?" Numbuh 0 asked.

"You are the first Soopreme Leader of this generation." Numbuh NCC1701 replied. "Therefore it is imperative for us to tell you so to jumpstart the Seventh age, just like how our predecessors told every first Soopreme Leaders of the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Age of our existence. Besides, it's easier to commence on a meeting when you order the rest of your operative friends to come here. They'll listen to you."

"Okay then. So what now?" Numbuh 0 asked.

"You are to select a permanent Earth Embassador to the Galactic Kids Next Door. He will liaison your people with our people. He will give us information about KND activities on Earth in regards of technology building, the problem it faces, and fighting the evil adult menace. In turn, we will supply technology and operatives if necessary. You have our word on that. Kid's honor."

"What do you mean, permanent?" Numbuh Infinity asked.

"Yeah, and just how far can we trust you?" Moosk asked accusingly. The other operatives glared at him for being too cautious.

"Hehe. See, I told you these types of people will ask that question." Numbuh 51 chuckled with the other two alien operatives as he pointed to the Earthlings. "Do not fret, fellow Kids Next Door. We are honest in helping fellow kids galaxy-wide. Our galaxy, unfortunately," Numbuh 51 said in a grim voice, showing an equally grim look, "is filled with adults. And these same adults who promised to take care of us are just like your adults on your planet. Greed and power dictates the evil adults in many parts of this galaxy, resulting in never ending wars and conflicts in which children are the victims. The Galactic Kids Next Door and its planetary sectors are created to help any kids in need."

"And those teenagers. They're a big pain too." Numbuh H2G2 interjected, and the other alien operatives concurred, and so do the Earthlings.

"Anyway," Numbuh NCC1701 said, "The permanent Earth representative will be staying with us at the GKND Treehouse Headquarters, and every half Earth years he will return to his home planet to assess any development or progress that you have made."

That little bit of information made the Earth operatives skipped a heartbeat. Is she saying it correctly? They get to leave Earth and live amongst other aliens in the Galactic Kids Next Door?

"Surely you're joking." Numbuh 140F6 said nervously. "You can't seriously ask one of us to leave Earth! How about our family? Friends? Our Earthly cultures?"

"That's how it goes, no exceptions. All planetary representatives follow this procedure. Including us."

"I see you will have to have a lot of thinking to do about this. And we understand." Numbuh H2G2 said. "We will give you one Earth week to think, and appoint your ambassador. And in the mean time, we will investigate the mystery about Earth's entry in the GKND archive." The non-terrestrial operatives looked at one another and nodded. They pushed some buttons on their wrist and the bright light flash reappeared again, "Until next week, my friends!" and they disappeared into thin air.

The Earth operatives were excited but at the same time, are scared that they never anticipated this to happen to them. The revelations that the aliens made to them opened a whole new avenue of opportunities and relationship. Yet, there are setbacks. Hopefully whoever is chosen to be the Permanent Ambassador of Earth, is not one of them. This insignificant little blue planet that they call home is too precious to be left away…

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Finally, something about the Galactic Kids Next Door. It is the sole reason why I write this fanfic in the first place. I see loads of opportunities if they managed to make a spin-off show off it. This is just my interpretation of the GKND and I am going to tell about it more in the next upcoming chapter. Thanks for reading and please leave a review!


	14. Operation: LEAVE 1

_Author's Note:_ Ugh, this website finally managed to resolve that login glitch. Had to wait for them to sort the mess out before I can upload this chapter. Speaking of it, it had to split it into two. It got so massive that I thought no way people would read this in one sitting. I'll upload the next when I finally done proofreading it and tie any loose ends.

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**Legal junk: I don't own Codename: Kids Next Door, but Cartoon Network does and Mr. Warburton created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Operation: **L.E.A.V.E** (**L**eaving **E**arth **A**ren't **V**ery **E**nthusiastic)

"_Oh, please. They'll find you eventually. I mean, these guys did. Look, are you sure you want to do this? You don't have to go!"_ **Abigail Lincoln **_(Numbuh 5 of Sector V)_

_Seventh Age_

"I think nobody in their right mind wants to leave Earth." Numbuh 140F6 said to her friends. The mood was very stressing as the operatives discussed about the offer made by the GKND in Numbuh 0's office. "I mean, it's great and all that we get to know the secrets of the universe… but to leave Earth… and not to return for a very long time… is asking too much of us."

"But… if we won't get someone to go, we might miss out. Who knows what those alien guys are going to show us." Numbuh 0110 said.

"Does it matter?" Numbuh 999 protested. "They'll come back from time to time, and we'll still get their help."

"But don't you want to see firsthand what other kids on other planets are doing? And to have our voice represented in this galaxy? They're giving us a chance and very sincere about it. This is a major breakthrough and if we don't participate we'll lose out, a whole lot." Numbuh 0110 replied back.

"Hey, comrade Numbuh 0," Moosk asked. "Did those space children left something for us to contact them back, so we can set up a time and place for them to land?"

"I'll go then." Numbuh 0 said suddenly, to shock of everyone. The heavy decision was made very reluctantly, "If they needed a voice to represent the Earth Kids Next Door; who else could do it better other than the Soopreme Leader himself?"

"No! No you can't leave me- I mean, Earth!" Numbuh 999 immediately protested. She wanted him to say, but with a different reason, yet she didn't want to make it too obvious. "You're the Soopreme Leader. Your job is to lead _us_! Besides, you have Ben to look out for!"

"What about you Numbuh 999?" Numbuh 20 said, deciding to mess around with her. "Why couldn't you go?" she had becoming increasingly annoyed by her ever since their fight about the book, and Numbuh 999 felt the same about her too.

"_Think_ for one second before you open your big fat mouth! I can't just leave my family! And I think you, and anyone else here wouldn't too!"

"We're all right here," Numbuh 2084 said, trying to fuse down the heightening tension of the situation, "This ain't like leaving Cleveland for LA, man. We'll be totally alone out there, without anything we can be familiar with. The only things that we can relate to are the stuff that we bring with us. How'd you feel if you're separated from your mom and dad? That's how we feel if we leave Earth."

That last sentence struck a heavy cord on Numbuh Infinity. He shook his head and kept silent. His eyes are becoming teary. Numbuh 2084 noticed him, and regretted about what he just said. "Look, man…" he shook his head, trying to reach him, "I-I'm… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I—"

"No, it is okay." Numbuh Infinity replied, wiping the tear away. "You know… when I hear you people quarrel about this, your excuse is mostly about not leaving your family. I understand. I have… well, I don't have my parents anymore. Maybe it is my destiny to travel to the stars."

Everybody was stunned as they looked at him. "Y-you mean…" Moosk said disbelievingly.

"Yes. I'm probably foolish enough to become the Ambassador of Earth."

"But… your brother…" Numbuh 0 reminded him, as if to change his mind.

"Before my parents died, they said to always be kind and not to burden my brother." Numbuh Infinity replied, getting very emotional as he raises his voice. "He now has to take four different jobs, pay the bills, study for college, and take care of me!" he shouted, and tears began to roll down. "I don't want to be a burden to him anymore! I didn't ask him for this! I want off his back! The only way I can do that is to join GKND!"

The other operatives looked at one another. His reason was so powerful and emotional that it made some of the operatives cry. At that point they knew there was nothing could change his mind, except for his brother.

---

"Ah, you're here. And I see you brought your friends along too." Numbuh Infinity's brother said as he watched his little brother entering his room. He was busy studying, and he could need a rest right now. "If you want to play, please keep it down. I have lots of assignments to do. What's up?"

"I have… something to ask you." Numbuh Infinity said nervously. "What would happen if something came up and we had to be separated?"

"Is it because of the Social Services?" his brother asked back, noticing his trembling voice. "Don't worry about them. They're not going to bother us anymore. I—"

"No… it's not that…" he shook his head. He decided to just be honest, "How would you react if I am selected to be an ambassador of Earth, in which I have to leave and stay at another planet and would never see you for a very long time?"

The question shocked his brother. At first he was confused, followed by disbelief, and finally he burst into laughter, slapping his knee and wiping tear of his eye from laughing too much, "Are you still playing that Kids Next Door thing with your friends? I know you kids have active imagination and all but this… this takes the cake!" he said, laughing as he went along.

"Unfortunately this _is_ a serious matter." Numbuh 0 stepped in. "Two days ago we were visited by three alien beings who claimed they represent the Galactic Kids Next Door. They asked us to select an ambassador to represent Earth and it will be beneficial for us and them. We never sure who do we wanted to send until your little brother volunteered to be the representative." He took out a small PDA like device out of his pocket and showed it to him, "this device was found in one of our laboratories a day after the contact." He switched it on, and a hologram appeared in the air, consequently making Numbuh Infinity's brother think that all these nonsense were actually true. That kind of technology shouldn't even exist. "It shows us the frequency to contact them, and a video of what role should a representative play in the GKND." Numbuh 0 played the video, and Numbuh Infinity's brother's jaw was wide agape in disbelief at just how huge the responsibility of an ambassador is and his little brother is foolish enough to volunteer himself for it.

After the video was over, he slouched on his chair, and rubbed his forehead in great disbelief. Everything went silent as the operatives waited for a reaction. Everybody was holding their breath.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked Numbuh Infinity weakly. "Why are you _stupid enough_ to volunteer yourself for _THIS_?!" he screamed.

"I read all your books." Numbuh Infinity replied, trying to be calm. But the tremor of fear in his voice gave it away. "I know to be diplomatic. I even solved a lot of fights at school. They're kids just like me, and—"

"NO!!" he screamed again. "Don't you get it? This is not about being an ambassador. This is about you making an idiotic decision without even talking about it to me! Do you really want to leave me? I don't want you to travel across the galaxy! It's dangerous! I want you to stay here where it's safe and I can look out for you!"

Tears began to roll down once more from Numbuh Infinity's eyes. "If I stay here, I'll be nothing… but a burden to you…"

"Don't you dare said that!" his brother screamed back, and ran to where he was standing, clutching his shoulder tightly. "You are not a burden! YOU'RE NOT!"

"Then why you're exhausting yourself with all those work, barely getting any rest and making yourself sick just to take care of me? It doesn't help that the Social Services keep knocking our door—"

"I know it looks that way, little bro…" he held his tear back, "but I can handle it… I know… I… I… can… can't…" he gave in. What his little brother said was true. He couldn't find the time for his studies due to too much work. He had gotten ill trying to cope with all of it. And with little money and time to take care of his brother, the Social Services kept knocking on their door. Numbuh Infinity didn't want to be sent to a foster family or an orphanage, and his brother wanted it to stay that way. Since they got no family to turn to; or anyone else for that matter, the Galactic Kids Next Door would be the only safe bet.

After the drama, Numbuh Infinity's brother looked at his friends and asked, "Leave me and my brother alone for a while. We need something to discuss about." Numbuh 0 nodded, and motioned his hand to the company of operatives to ask them to leave the room. Now there were just two of the brothers left in the room.

---

_A week later…_

"You just had to pick a random spot in the planet, hadn't you, Numbuh 0?" Numbuh 140F6 said to him. "Some empty island in the middle of the Atlantic. How quaint. Do you know how crazy it was for us to move our equipments here? It's a logistical nightmare!"

"Hey, we had to pick a remote place; otherwise the GKND would be spotted by other operatives and the adults." Numbuh 0 explained to her. The rocky island they were on was extremely remote. It was in middle of the Atlantic, near the equator. On that island preparations were made for the arrival of the visitors from outer space. It didn't look much but all the scientists' instruments were there, the security officers were on duty, and the diplomats were reading their notes in case of any negotiations should surface. As they prepared went on their activities, suddenly a beam of light were flashed on the ground from the sky.

The shining spotlight beamed directly above the operatives. They moved away to clear a space for the spaceship to land. The whole place started to vibrate. The scientists' instruments were off the charts. The security officers selected by Moosk were getting scared as they pointed their 2x4 guns to the spaceship even though Moosk ordered them not to. The diplomats were in awe. When all the dust settled down, and the spotlight shut off, the most outstanding view awaited them all. A cake-like spaceship was unraveled.

The operatives cautiously gathered at the front entrance. Everyone was holding their breath. The security officers lifted their guns.

**TRANSMISSION INTERRUPTED

* * *

**

Classic Kids Next Door gimmick. All about the Galactic Kids Next Door will be revealed in the next half of the chapter. It will be exciting, I promise. I wish I could write more about the tension between Numbuh Infinity and his brother. Add more drama and stuff. I feel his older bro is too accepting about his wish to join the KND. But, alas. Stay tuned for the next half of the chapter and give this one a review! Thanks!


	15. Operation: LEAVE 2

_Author's Note:_ Second part of this chapter is finally done, and it might just change the way you see Operation ARCHIVE!

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**Legal junk: I don't own Codename: Kids Next Door, but Cartoon Network does and Mr. Warburton created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Operation: **L.E.A.V.E** (**L**eaving **E**arth **A**ren't **V**ery **E**nthusiastic) 

"_Oh, please. They'll find you eventually. I mean, these guys did. Look, are you sure you want to do this? You don't have to go!"_ **Abigail Lincoln **_(Numbuh 5 of Sector V)_

_Seventh Age_

**CONNECTION REESTABLISHED**

"What did I tell you about lifting guns at the visitors, comrades? Stand down!" Moosk barked. The security forces reluctantly put down their weapons, but as soon as they did that, the door opened up, revealing three alien children. For the first timers, the sight of the aliens was too overwhelming for them to grasp.

"Numbuh 0, it's good to see you again!" Numbuh 51 greeted as he emerged out of the door. "Allow me start by going straight to the point! We did some digging and we found out the truth behind the collapse of the Sixth Age."

Numbuh 0 was intrigued, and so were the other operatives. "Ah, please do! We've been waiting forever for that answer!"

"We investigated our Scribe Council, their databases, and some of the journal entries made during that time. It turns out that someone did tamper with the archive, and to our shock and surprise, it's one of your own. Three humans broke into the GKND Treehouse, stole an ID from one of the Scribe Council and proceeded to alter Earth's entry in GKND database. There is also a record of a missing escape pod that we think is obviously connected. Allow me to show you this." Numbuh 51 showed them a PDA like device and proceeded to show them a rendering of the culprits. What the human operatives saw was shocking.

"It's The Annoyingly Cute Triplets Who Lived Upon The Hill!" Betty shouted completely in disbelieve. "How did they manage to get way over there?"

The question silenced the human operatives as they themselves couldn't explain it. Numbuh 0 was deep in thought, trying to piece the evidences together from the books he read, the information he received from archives, and the KND database itself. "I think I know how." He said rather seriously, and everyone turned to look at him. "The Annoyingly Cute Triplets Who Lived Upon The Hill were in the same era as Numbuh 19th Century, weren't they? And during that time, girls weren't allowed to join the Kids Next Door. The Triplets however, wanted to join and they've shown that they're extremely capable as spy agents but Numbuh 19th Century wouldn't allow them. They got angry, and wanted to teach him and the KND a lesson by destroying the organization. Somehow they knew that the GKND existed, but they couldn't do anything just yet. The Alamode was just a diversion and a trick to get them to call the GKND for help, and when they arrived they hitched a ride on their ship, travel to the GKND headquarters and destroy all information about Earth! After that's done they hijacked an escape pod, return to Earth and destroy what's left of the Earth KND."

"A sound theory, Numbuh 0." Numbuh 51 said. "It might be the reason why Earth wasn't in our database." Though the explanation was questionable, everyone accepted it because there were no other explanations left. "With that mystery solved, I am here to present Earth some of our technology." He said, and the Earth scientist got excited. A few of the spaceship crew were seen unloading some cargo off the ship in front of the scientist. And children they were, they ripped the boxes to shreds as if they were Christmas gifts.

"Where is your Ambassador, Numbuh 0?" Numbuh NCC1701 asked. "Don't tell me you haven't decided who you're going to send."

"I'm here." Numbuh Infinity nervously walked out from behind his brother. "Numbuh Infinity at your service, Sirs!" he saluted them. "I represent the Earth Kids Next Door."

The alien operatives were a bit perplexed. "What is that gesture you're doing?" Numbuh H2G2 asked.

"It's…" Numbuh Infinity slowly lowered his hand down in disbelief, until he realized that they were from another planet and likely to have a different gesture, "It's… a salute."

"I'm not surprised." Numbuh 51 nodded his head as he rubbed the temple of his nose. "There are many variants of gestures amongst species. I think we can all learn something from this. You, the tall person behind him. Are you his kin?"

"His older brother, actually." He replied. "This is unbelievable. To think that aliens do exist and I'm here to witness history… wow, it is worth it after all."

"It is thoughtful of the Galactic Kids Next Door to allow families of their operatives, regardless of age, to say their goodbyes." Numbuh 51 said to them. "We've got plenty of time so, make the best of it." The brothers nodded, and began to say their final goodbyes to each other.

"Suddenly, I feel all of this is a bad idea to begin with, big bro." Numbuh said, chuckling unsurely.

His brother shook his head in disbelief, but was smiling at him, "Hah, don't start." His big brother warned him. "You pleaded, begged and cried to me to let you do this and suddenly chickened out at the last minute? What is wrong with you?" he grabbed him and gave his kid brother a playful noogie.

Numbuh Infinity rubbed his head, feeling a bit embarrassed, "Yeah… well, I'm going be alone for the first time… without you…"

"Hey, the Galactic Kids Next Door will take care of you. If the kids on Earth can take care of one another well and saved us all from Father, then I have no doubt kids from outer space will do a remarkable job as well. Better them than an orphanage, I guess." They exchanged smile to one another before embracing for the very last time.

"I'll miss you." Numbuh Infinity said weakly, crying.

"C'mon now, buddy." His brother tried to hold back his tears, trying to give his little brother a bit of strength, "Stay strong. Just think of it as going to a long summer camp. You'll go to a new place, meet new friends, sleep in a bunk…" they tightened their embrace. A tear drop fell from his eye. "I'm gonna miss you too."

The Earth operatives were visibly touched by the scene. The girls were shedding bucket of tears while the boys tried to be all macho and held them back.

The brothers then released from their embrace and exchanged one final glance, "Okay, did you bring your clothes, toothbrush, clean socks and underwear, lil' man?" Numbuh Infinity's brother gave him one final reminder.

"Yeah… I just hope they have something similar to Earth things when I'm there." He laughed softly, wiping a tear.

"Haha, hopefully. One last thing, I want you to have this." Numbuh Infinity's brother said, and handed him a book. "It's about basic diplomacy; it got me through my sophomore year. I think it might come in handy." He shrugged his shoulders. "Then again, you're dealing with kids so a jar of cookies might sound better than a book full of text."

Numbuh Infinity eagerly accepted the gift, and smiled at his brother for the final time. "Thanks for everything! I'll see you in six months!" he saluted him, and his brother saluted back, and he finally walked away, while still looking at his brother.

After that was over, Numbuh NCC1701 made some gestures on her face to Numbuh 51. He nodded, and whispered on Numbuh H2G2, "It's time."

Numbuh H2G2 nodded, and called on Numbuh 0, "Soopreme Leader, can I talk to you for a moment?" Numbuh 0 nodded and followed him.

Numbuh 51 waited as he watches Numbuh H2G2 escorted him out behind a huge boulder. When they were completely out of their sights, he turned to the human operatives and said to them, "Okay, here's the deal; you will never, ever talk about this event to your Soopreme Leader ever again."

A mixture of shock and confusion was felt, "What do you mean? I thought we're all on a common ground here! We're supposed to trust one another!" Numbuh 999 protested.

"What are you doing to comrade Numbuh 0?!" Moosk demanded an answer.

"Do not worry, fellow KND operatives." Numbuh NCC1701 said, "Your leader is having his memories about the Galactic Kids Next Door erased as we speak. He won't remember any of this when he wakes up in his bed tomorrow."

"But… why?" Numbuh 0110 asked.

"Protocols for planet like yours." Numbuh 51 said. "The Galactic Kids Next Door has outlined a protocol for a planet that isn't ready to believe there is life outside of their own yet. The Soopreme Leader is the voice of the KND, and he represents all operatives in the KND. The heads of Science, Military and Diplomacy are not. If word spread outside of the KND about us, think about the consequences. Everyone will be looking for him for answers, and we can't let that happen."

"You know the existence of the book, don't you?" Numbuh NCC1701 asked. She was referring to the 'Never Ever Never Ever Never Ever Let The Soopreme Leader Know This Book Exists' book, and the earth operatives nodded weakly. "Read it. I wish there is another way, but at the time being, we all have to bear with it."

"I don't get it." Numbuh 140F6 shook her head. "So why did you bother to present yourself to Numbuh 0 in the first place when you clearly wanted to see us?"

"Why, to gather all of you, of course." She replied back.

"Indeed." Numbuh 51 said, "We do not know who the Earth KND's Head of Diplomacy, Military and Science are. When we received the transmission from Earth, there is no data about it, with the exception of the position of the Soopreme Overlord. By presenting ourselves to Numbuh 0, we can ask him to gather all of you. We had to create a ruse in order to convince Numbuh 0."

"And speaking of ruses…" Numbuh NCC1701 mouthed, as she took out a small disc out of her pocket and showed it to them. "I want you to have this; produce a false history based on the instructions inside and show it to all operatives and the new cadets you're training. Think of it as an introduction to KND history." She passed it to Numbuh 20.

"Operation… ARCHIVE?" Betty read the label, perplexed. "What's it about?"

"It's a cover-up reference video regarding the origin of adults and the Kids Next Door as well as instructions on how to make them. The GKND has outlined vital points that you must integrate into your version so the real story behind the origin of the KND remains elusive to the others."

"Great." Numbuh 999 folded her arms and pouted in disapproval, "More lies and deceit. As if we don't get them a lot these days. And I thought trust is a core principle in the KND."

"You have to understand Numbuh 999." Numbuh NCC1701 tried to reason to her. "It's the only way to keep your operatives distracted away from us and doing their jobs. If the word spread outside of the KND, history will repeat itself again, the same way what it did to the Sixth Age."

Numbuh 999 fell silent. The explanation about 'The Annoyingly Cute Triplets who lived upon the Hill' and their role in the downfall of the Sixth Age rang back in her mind.

"I hope our meeting here has been really fruitful to both of us, and we'll be looking forward to our next meeting." Numbuh 51 said to the Earth Operatives, and gave them their version of saluting by clenching his right fist and placed it on his forehead.

"Likewise, Numbuh 51." Chester said, nodding in approval. "And please take care of our Representative. Until we meet again."

---

The little Earthling took his nervous first step into the Cakeship as the door closed behind him. The interior of the spaceship was not what he had thought of a spaceship would look like. Instead of a sterile, clean environment, it looked so much like the Moonbase, but somewhat futuristic, and built with foreign, unrecognizable objects rather haphazardly.

Suddenly an alien language blared from the PA system but Numbuh Infinity couldn't comprehend it. Numbuh NCC1701 grabbed his hand and led him to a pair of empty seats. She asked him to sit and buckle up as she did hers. "We're departing very soon. I know this is your first ride on a real spaceship and it must be exciting for you, but please take care of your own safety." She smiled. Numbuh Infinity on the other hand, was extremely nervous. But he tried to remain calm and did as asked. He anxiously waited for the Cakeship to blast off. Then a sudden burst of force threw him back against his seat and after a 30 second nerve-wrecking experience, it finally stopped. Numbuh Infinity slowly turned to look out the window. He's in space.

"Numbuh Infinity," Numbuh 51 called him, "You are required to go to the infirmary for a medical checkup. A medical officer is waiting for you there."

"Thanks." Numbuh Infinity replied, trying to smile after going through that terror. "I'd be more grateful if I know where that is."

Numbuh 51 chuckled warmly and brought him to one of the many screen panels on the wall. "You are here." He pointed to a green dot. He then dragged his finger on the screen to a cube, forming a blue trail as he dragged it. "The infirmary is there." Then suddenly, soft blue lights appeared on the top left of the ceiling, forming a path to show Numbuh Infinity's destination. "Just follow the blue lights and you'll be fine. I'll be at my quarters if you need me."

Numbuh Infinity was impressed. These high tech alien equipments were very overwhelming to him. "Impressive."

---

Numbuh Infinity finally reached the infirmary ward without much trouble. Inside he saw a grey female alien operative wearing a light blue jumpsuit. She was as tall as him, the skin on top her head looked like she had a shoulder length hair, and she had three fingers on each of her two arms. Other than that, she looked pretty much like a human. She flashed a smile upon seeing Numbuh Infinity entering the room. She spoke in an alien language but he couldn't understand her. Numbuh Infinity was getting uncomfortable. _Fantastic. A girl is going to check me?_

After putting her eBook-like device on her table, she approached Numbuh Infinity all friendly like, circling around him, while maintaining her smile and her eyes at him. Numbuh Infinity was getting really uncomfortable now. Afterwards, she lifted a finger upwards, which was the only signal he could understand. It was either 'Wait here,' or 'I have an idea.' Or both. She went back to her table and took a jar out from a drawer. The jar was filled with a lot of small yellow, fish like thing. She grabbed one, headed back to Numbuh Infinity and unceremoniously forced the fish inside of his right ear without him expecting it. The fish squirmed and dig itself further into the ear canal, as Numbuh Infinity screamed in uneasiness and futilely tried to grab the fish out. The alien operative just watched as she began to speak in her alien language.

But suddenly the alien language and English began to interlace with one another, producing a warbled sound. The alien operative kept talking. Then, he could finally understand her. "Can you understand me now?" she asked warmly.

"H-how… how do you…?" he reacted back, still in shock with his hands cupped on both ears, prohibiting any future violations.

"It's a TRANSLATROUT." She replied.

Galactic Kids Next Door: **TRANSLATROUT** – (**T**ranslating **R**andom **A**nd **N**onnative **S**ounding **L**anguages **A**re **T**ruly **R**eworded **O**n **U**sing **T**his)

"That thing inside you translates foreign languages into a language that you can understand. I'm Numbuh Log10." She introduced herself, extending her right palm upwards, as if she wanted to give him a high five. Numbuh Infinity was puzzled by the gesture, and common sense told him that he should gave her a high five, which he did.

"What are you doing?" Numbuh Log10 giggled, amused. "You're supposed to do this." Her other arm grabbed Numbuh Infinity's right hand and put it on her right hand. With her guidance, she and Numbuh Infinity moved their hands together clockwise to form a small circle. "That's a gesture of introduction of my people." She said warmly.

The alien culture fascinated Numbuh Infinity, and he proceeded to teach her how to shake hands, and he introduced himself. They both laughed at their discovery. Whatever uneasiness and nervousness that Numbuh Infinity had were gone now. She then asked him to sit on a bed nearby and began a small talk. "Earth… people back at my planet calls it Terra of the Sol System." She said as she went to her desk.

Numbuh Infinity was slightly shocked, "Your species knew about my planet?"

As she made the preparations to inspect him, she continued her talk, "Well, we have long suspected that your Solar System harbors a planet that contains life, so when the adults of my planet became a spacefaring species about 100 years ago, we sent a probe and there it is. Life on another planet."

"I see… but, why didn't you make contact with us?"

"Well, to be honest, your civilization wasn't quite up the par yet, so we just went to explore other planets until we found The Citadel. Kinda a lame, adult version of the Galactic Kids Next Door."

"Numbuh Infinity chuckled. "So what are you going to do to me now? Chop me to bits for lunch?"

"Hey, I was about to make that joke." Numbuh Log10 giggled. "It's tradition, you know, to make brain eating alien jokes in the GKND to newcomers like yourself."

"Heh, I guess I ruined it for you then. What is it you're doing over there?"

"I'm preparing to take blood samples for your DNA. If it is compatible with this serum we have, it will be injected inside of your body. I hope you're not scared of needles."

Numbu Infinity rubbed his shoulder, becoming a bit restless. "No, I'm fine. What is the serum for?"

"Aging, or adulthood is a disease. This serum will slow your physical growth depending on the compatibility with your DNA. If it's very compatible, aging will slow down tremendously. Also, frequent space travel is known to slow down the aging process marginally, due to gravity wells warping around the spaceship, slowing down the space-time continuum as spaceships travel through hyperspace."

Numbuh Infinity was absolutely stunned. "What? Y-you mean adulthood is a—"

"Yes, adulthood is a disease and it's widespread across the galaxy, infecting every planet with life. After the serum is administered, you will remain as a youth longer than you should be."

The thought of growing up was actually a sickness simply baffled and blew his mind. He began to feel scared. Sure it has lots of advantage to it, but it has its own disadvantages as well. "A-adulthood's a disease? I-I thought growing up was completely natur—"

"It's not." Numbuh Log10 replied, rather somberly. "I used to think like that too, but when see planets that are completely free of the aging disease with my own eyes, It was… magical. The people who lived on those planets are kids just like you and me, and they're a complete utopia, and disagreements always end with a game. Then, when I thought of never becoming an adult, I felt… weird, sad even. I know that we're the Kids Next Door, but I feel we'll miss out a lot if we don't grow up." She concluded as she walked over to Numbuh Infinity. "I try not to think about it though. So far, I don't regret being a kid for this long, and in fact, I'm hoping to stay this way."

He thought long and hard at the explanation. It was really hard to accept the facts. All this time everyone and every living thing back on Earth suffered the same disease. "I guess. So… by injecting this serum does it mean that I will live longer?"

"A bit." she replied softly. "The serum will make you young, and it does lengthen the livespan. But… it won't make you be young forever. Our scientists are researching a medicine to stop aging, but it has been forever since actual progress has been made."

Numbuh Infinity pondered deeply at the explanation, feeling a bit let down, yet relieved at the same time for some reason.

"I guess we're not designed to be young forever." She smiled weakly. "Maybe there are just things that we can't change."

The conversation with the alien opened Numbuh Infinity's eyes. If this was a sample of the kind of things that the GKND and League of Ambassador members would discuss, he'd be in good hands.

"How long is the journey to the GKND treehouse and where is it?" Numbuh Infinity asked, deciding to change the subject as he watched Numbuh Log10 preparing to take samples of his blood.

"It's where you Earth people call the Horsehead Nebula, in the asteroid field of the Strennus System. It's about 1500 light years from here."

Numbuh Infinity was shocked, "How long does it take to go there?"

"It's not that long, actually. Well, to a non spacefaring species…" she mouthed, preparing to insert the needle inside of his body. "Anyway, the journey won't be long, it's about fifteen Earth hours. Until then, enjoy the journey. My shift will be over in a couple of hours, so I can take you around the ship." Numbuh Log10 replied, smiling to calm him down.

"1500 light years… man, what I got myself into?" Numbuh Infinity sighed, somewhat regretting his decision.

---

_The next day…_

"Monty! Monty!!" Ben screamed and yelled, banging the door to his room repeatedly and loudly. He sounded like the sky was to fall down, very urgent like.

Monty slowly opened his eyes. He was in his bed, and it was morning. He couldn't remember anything last night. Slowly, he got up from his bed, and trudged to the door.

"What…?" he said sleepily.

"MOM'S DOWNSTAIRS!" Ben shouted. Monty was in disbelief, and he quickly ran past his brother and made a dash downstairs.

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Heh, a big cliffhanger at the end, and their mom did play a part in the KND! But that's the next chapter. Anyway, reviews are appreciated, and thanks for reading this!


	16. Operation: MUM

_Author's Note: _As promised, a new chapter, though it's been a while since my last one. To be honest, I kind of start to lose interest in continuing this fic. But, let's see how it goes. Even I want to know how it's all going to end. :)

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**Legal junk: I don't own Codename: Kids Next Door, but Cartoon Network does and Mr. Warburton created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Operation: **M.U.M** (**M**iss **U**, **M**um)

_"Mom, you know about this? About the Kids Next Door?"_ **Nigel Uno **_(Numbuh 1 of Sector V)_

_Seventh Age_

He couldn't believe his eyes. He thought he wouldn't see her again. Ever since Father ousted her back to England, he thought it'd be a miracle to see her again. But there she was, chatting with father without a feeling of animosity between the two. That wasn't to say that the atmosphere was friendly, though. In his mind, defeating Father and eliminating his evil self had made his mother to return back. He was the one who brought her back to the house.

"MUM!!" Monty screamed at the top of his lungs, and ran to his beloved mother. They then embraced one another tightly, and the feeling of longing and yearning of a mother's love came to their hearts. Ben too joined in and hugged them both. Their mother had tears in his eyes as she continued to hug her sons as not-so-evil father look at them with an indifferent look.

"So you met the kids. If you wanna spend the day with them, be my guest." He replied rather nonchalantly. "I have a boring business meeting with my colleagues so it's good to have someone to look after them."

"So we can—" Ben said to his father, the feeling of excitement was unbearable for him.

"Go nuts, wild, crazy." Father interjected as he picked his suitcase up, "Go to an amusement park, movies; I don't care. Just be back before bedtime, all right?" He then tipped his fedora hat to his family as a gesture of farewell and left the house. The boys and their mother then were getting ready for their one whole day just to be together.

---

_Meanwhile, at the Arctic Base…_

"Where's Monty? I thought he's supposed to be here by now to give some introduction to the new recruits." Numbuh 999 wondered; saying her thoughts out loud to Numbuh 2084, who was the field medic for the new cadets in training.

"I heard he just called Genki, saying he wanted to spend some time with his mom or something, you know: with the shopping and the movies flargh blargh wargh… aww, you know what I'm talkin' about!"

"Monty's mom is back?! But I thought—"

"Something's a matter Numbuh 999?"

Numbuh 999 paused for a moment, rethinking her words, "No, nothing. I'm just a bit shocked since Father separated their mom far away from them, and yet somehow she managed to come back."

"Well, Numbuh 0 did defeat his Father, and whatever evils he had when wearing that cloak must've gone by now."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right." Numbuh 999 nodded, agreeing with him. "Hey, how come you're not doing missions anymore?"

"Well, I have a lot of patients to attend to here. Why, just yesterday, but not on today, there was this one kid whose hair got totally butchered by his dad, and with everyone and anyone started to make fun of him blarg worf klarpft, you know what I'm talkin' about."

"And you're… doing what to that kid?" Numbuh 999 asked for an explanation, not totally getting his words.

"We'll be putting cat poop on his head to see it'd grow back. I heard those thing are good hair fertilizers ya know."

Numbuh 999 was clearly disgusted, as shown by her recoiling body and tongue sticking out from her mouth. "Eww… I think I'll just go to Numbuh 140F6 and see if there are any missions for me to do." And with that, she ran away from him. Far, far away.

---

"I can't believe you're back, mum!" Monty said excitedly to his mother as he, his mother and Ben went on their way to the nearest subway station. "I can't believe dad let you come back! It has been so long!"

"It is, isn't it luv?" she replied back in her seemingly English accent, "But, to me it was no shocker, lads. Your father will eventually let me see my own sons. As soon as the clouds lifted and the sky was bright, and the tyranny was finally over, I knew I will see my sons again once more." She replied, beaming.

But that last comment came to as strange to Numbuh 1 and 01. It was considering the fact she, an adult, remember the dark days when Father ruled the Earth. She shouldn't be remembering that. Or she had something that made her immune to the change? It was written in the Decommission Module instruction manual that if the beam from the Decommissioning Module decommissioned an evil cloak worn by an adult, everyone in that age group around the world will have their memory erased and they would remember nothing when the cloak was destroyed. Same thing would go if the evil cloak was worn by a teenager or a kid: their memory would get erased too. That was why after Father was decommissioned teenagers and kids still remember the time when the world was ruled by him. That was why the war between kids and adults was finally over, but the adult's legacy was carried over by the teenagers who were the allies of the adults, hunger for revenge that their status quo was gone forever. If the teenagers weren't fully suppressed, they could convince the adults to join back and finish the war, something the Kids Next Door really didn't want to.

"Monty, I thought mom shouldn't know about the incident." He whispered quietly to his older brother.

"I know, but let's just play along. Try to dig up some clues, and be subtle about it." Monty whispered back, and Ben nodded, "Haha, you're being metaphorical today, mum." He chuckled.

"Ooh…" his mom said, impressed by Monty's big vocabulary, "Very impressive. That's a very big word to say for a 10 year old boy, Monty. You've learned so much, I'm proud of you!" she said, stroking his hair, as Monty grin widely. Ben became a bit jealous that his mom was paying more attention to his brother.

"Well, he learned that from me, mom." Ben replied, although Monty didn't learn that word from him. He just glared at his little brother back, not saying anything. Suddenly, it now became a classic sibling rivalry, with each brother trying to gain their mother's attention.

"Oh, you silly, you. Of course he did." Their mom replied, kissing Ben's head. Though the gesture was embarrassing if witnessed by friends, and thankfully none of them were with Ben right now, or Ben didn't have actual friends to begin with, that gesture alone won him some points over Monty. They could feel the heat, and it was on now.

"Well Monty, I don't think I'm being metaphorical, do you? I mean, it did happen literally, didn't they? That was why I could come back from England back to America." She replied, making her sons even more confused. "Listen, lads." She said, stopped at her tracks as her sons followed suit. They were very near at the subway station entrance right now. "While I'm very, extremely happy to see you again, I do have something else to talk about to you both." She said rather seriously, to which her sons started becoming restless.

"Mum… are you…" Monty said, becoming worried.

"No, luv. It's nothing like that." She replied with a warm smile that only a mother could give. "It's about you and your _little_ secret 'organization.'" And with that little explanation, blood rushed through every vein in Monty's body. Could his mother be an evil adult to replace Father? Yet, he was hesitant to lift up his 2x4 gun to her. She was his mother for crying out loud! Ben didn't know what to do at the moment. He just stood trembling and motionless and waiting for his brother for his next move. "Monty, Ben. Do you two really think I'm an evil adult?" their mother giggled, putting her hand over her mouth, thinking that the thought of her own son thought her as an evil adult was cute. "Well… if I'm an evil adult, then I probably won't buy you two ice-cream then…" she teased.

Monty and Ben looked at one another. She couldn't be evil if she offered ice-cream, right?

---

Numbuh 999 continued her journey towards to the Kids Next Door Arctic Base Command Center. Relocation for this part to the Moonbase was pretty late considering the important significance it holds in the KND. She wanted to see Genki to see whether Numbuh 2084's story checks out with her. Thankfully, she was at the Command Center along with other operatives working around the clock to keep tabs for any suspicious teenage activities. And by suspicious teenage activities, it meant any act of aggression against kids worldwide. "Hey Numbuh One Forty Eff Six." Numbuh 999 called, "Busy?"

"To my own surprise, no." Numbuh 140F6 replied. "You bored or something?"

"Kind of." She sighed, slumping on a vacant seat. "I don't get it. We're supposed to be swarming with alerts by now after Numbuh 0110 installed that new computer on. Is it broken or something, because I'm sure as heck don't see that computer is doing what it's supposed to be doing!"

"I agree," Genki replied, grabbing a seat right next to her, "but I checked with Chester and did some tests of my own, the computer is operational. Maybe the teenagers take a day off or something. Be patient. Action is bound to happen soon."

"You know, that what worries me." Numbuh 999 replied back. "You know scenes in those horror movies where there's a bunch of people alone in the woods and one of them says 'It's quiet,' and the other one replied, 'Too quiet,' and suddenly some _very_ bad things happen to them soon after that? That's what I think is happening to us now. The teenagers are laying low off the radar because they're planning something, and they don't want to let us know about it. And when the time is right, they'll strike against us."

Genki gave Numbuh 999's explanation a thought, feeling that it made sense. "You probably have something going on there. But we can't just order some random operatives to fight them off, because we based this on our assumption alone and we don't have proof."

"But we can't just sit on our butts and wait for their move! We can't afford that. With every second we stay idle, the more they take this opportunity to plan something major to destroy us all!"

Genki noticed the tone in Numbuh 999's sentences, as if the way she talked about the teenagers was very genocidal. "Numbuh 999, I can't help but to notice you sound very prejudiced against the teenagers. I know you hate brother and all but that isn't a good reason to justify teenagers collectively based on a single person."

"You don't know him. He may not look like much, but he's smarter than he looks. If he could get a bunch of rowdy pimple-faced teenagers to attack Sector V, and considering how much time we had given to him right now, he probably had gotten his whole school in arms to fight against us! Which gives me an idea…" Numbuh 999 contemplated, as an idea suddenly popped inside of her head. "Genki, if anyone needs me tell them I'm on an unofficial, solo mission. I'm going to Henry Middle School and find out what they're up to!"

"To your brother's school!?" Numbuh 140F6 said in total shock. "You're insane! No kid has ever made it out alive from any middle or high school! The last I heard, one kid ended up getting noogiified, purple nurpled, pink bellies, wedgified, spitballed on, and got wet willied on! You'll be mutilated!"

"Well, there's first for everything, and I intend to be the first kid who went in and left a middle school unharmed!" she stood up defiantly.

"I can't let you do this, Numbuh 999!" Genki grabbed her arm, to which Numbuh 999 quickly pulled it away from her. "It's suicide! It's crazy to even think about it!"

"Just try and stop me! My mind is set. It'll take a miracle to talk me out of this. I'm going there, and I'll prove you wrong! But, if I'm dead, tell Monty… that… t-that, I love him." And she bolted away from Numbuh 140F6.

"But… wait…!" She said concernedly in disbelief, but went into shock after that last bit of sentence entered her brain, "Wait, what!? YOU WHAT?!" She shouted in disbelief but Numbuh 999 was long gone.

---

After giving their order, Monty, Ben and their mother took some empty seat at a table nearby the counter. The ice-cream parlor they were in had a family friendly sort like atmosphere located just inside of the subway station. As they wait for their order to arrive, they began a small chat, amidst the hustle and bustle of people going by their businesses.

"So mum, how are you?" Monty asked.

"Much better, luv. Thanks for asking." His mother replied. "The shift from the older days is welcomed, but I still need a period of adjustment though. Thankfully it wasn't as tough as I imagined."

"So… what are you doing right now in England?" Ben asked, curious to know what his mother was up to right now.

"Oh, I still am a nurse, but I now work at an actual hospital right now." Their mother beamed.

"So you're saying you're still keeping watch of all the sick kids just like you're used to?" Monty asked some more.

"Yes. And thankfully, the equipment at my hospital is even better than the ones I used during the dark days."

Monty felt it was finally the time to make his mother to spill the beans. "You kept talking about 'the dark days,' mum. What do you mean by that?"

Their mom giggled softly, amused, "What? Now, now. Don't play dumb with me. I think I know and remember the time when Father ruled the world and sent the both of you to work as menial child laborers churning out disgusting tapioca pudding and other tapioca related products all night and day while he forced me to go back to England and to take care of the injured and unhealthy children so they can go back in the factories."

"How…?" Monty muttered in great disbelief, "How could you remember all this? You shouldn't be remembering this. I need to know, mum. How do you know about the organization we're in? How do you know Father was evil?"

"Yeah, mom." Ben interjected. "I want to know too."

"It's simple really, my dear sons. I was a member of the Kids Next Door too. The Soopreme Leader even." Their mother explained to them, to the complete shock and disbelief of Monty and Ben.

"That's impossible!" Monty said in a raised voice. "You _were_ in the Kids Next Door? That's… that's crazy! The archives said nothing about a girl Soopreme Leader! And… and I thought I was the first kid in The Seventh Age that started it!"

"Well, that's because me and ragtag bunch of misfits were not official, Monty. Think of me as a leader in a transitional period between the Sixth and Seventh age."

"How did you get to be the Soopreme Leader mom? And what was your Numbuh? Monty could look it up again in the Book of KND."

"You lads really want to know?" she smiled, trying to build up her sons ever budding curiosity about her past in the KND. "Okay then, I will. It's a good time waster while waiting for the _obviously slow ice cream we ordered to come over!_" the last few words were deliberately raised to pressure the lazy workers to buck up and send over their order.

"It started when I was around your age Monty, during the war, when I was a just a little girl. It was a very unsettling time and everyone had to make do with just about everything. We even had to take shelter in the underground railway stations to get away from the chaos above. But unfortunately for me and my family, we were too late to seek shelter and forced to leave the city and seek shelter at the countryside. As we were about to leave, a bomb struck nearby us and I got thrown away, separating me from my family. When I woke up from the shock, I found myself in one of the underground train tunnels."

"Were you scared?" Monty asked curiously.

"Of course I was. But then I realized that crying wouldn't get me anywhere, so I had to be brave and find an exit. Suddenly, the whole place started to rumble, probably from all the bombings, and at one point it shook so hard that I was thrown away to a wall. I must've accidentally pulled down a lever or something and it lead me to the Great Library of the Kids Next Door."

"The Great Library?!" Monty said in awe. "You actually found it?! So it was true after all!"

"What's the Great Library is all about, Monty?" Ben asked.

"The Great Library is where all the information, secrets, data, and records of the Kids Next Door all the way from the First Age are all stored! I read it in the Book of KND and some of the accounts of previous operatives in the old books at the Arctic Base."

"Indeed it is, Monty." His mother nodded. "At first, I didn't know what to react. It was strange considering the rumble and destruction that I felt, the library remained intact. The fear for my safety was gone and replaced by a strong sense of curiosity. I just went in and explored the whole place, scanning my eyes on the bookshelves to see if I found some interesting books. I picked some of them up, but the most interesting of them all was the Book of KND. I planned to stay there for a while, but a rumble reminded me of my own family. So just took whatever interesting books I found with me and headed back to the surface. Two days later, I was reunited with my family and went to the countryside."

"And you're safe there?" Monty asked.

"Quite safe, since the bombings are concentrated at the city, and the countryside holds no value to them. It was at the countryside I met some other kids and introduced them to the KND. Of course they were excited to join, but some didn't want to because I'm a girl and all that." She chuckled, and resumed her story. "I called myself Numbuh 74, based on my dad's, your grandfather's squadron. Our missions were mostly saving kids who got trapped in the bombings and bring them back to safety or reunite them with their family."

"Wait…" Monty said, "How were you able to do that?"

"Well, the Book of KND does have some information about 2x4 technology, right? We just had to make do and construct weapons and vehicles with whatever limited resources we had."

"Wow, it sure was tough back in those days, wasn't it mom?" Ben said to his mother.

"Yes it was, Ben. Then, after the war was over, I turned thirteen, and the other kids got disinterested in the KND and rather focus on rebuilding their lives. I didn't know what to do then, so I just kept the book in my attic."

"The book was in your possession the whole time?" Monty said in shock.

"Yeah," she chuckled innocently. "I kind of had forgotten about it, until I met your Father in the USA and having you two afterwards. I rummaged through the attic to relive the memories and found that book again. It was also the same time your Father found that evil cloak and proceeded to take over the world."

"So what happened after that?" Ben asked.

"What else I would I do? He forced me back to England and took my babies away. Before he did that, I hid the Book of KND in hoping one day my sons would find it and save the world. It looks like you lads did it, and I am so proud of you two." She proceeded to hug both of his sons. And that moment, the ice-creams they ordered finally arrived.

"I miss you so much, mum." Monty replied, wiping a tear away. "And thank you for introducing us to the Kids Next Door. But one thing still I don't get though, how come you still remember the time when Father was in power?"

"It's the book of KND. It holds magical powers to whoever holds them. The magic works even when that person turns into an adult. That's why I'm immune to Father's powers. Decommissioning is the only thing that will erase my memory, and I want you to decommission me Monty."

"WHAT?!"

* * *

The cliffhanger for this chapter isn't as shocking as the previous one, but it may make you wonder what will happen to their mother later. As for Numbuh 999, let's just say she will establish a new division in the KND dedicating to espionage, just like what Numbuh 362 did before she became the Soopreme Leader. Well, too much information already. Thanks for reading, and reviews are always appreciated. Sorry for the late update!


End file.
